Early report doesn’t recommend charges for torture memos

A preliminary internal report on the Justice Department investigation into the Bush Justice Department authors of the "torture memos" does not call for them to be criminally prosecuted for the writing and distribution of the controversial legal policies but raises the possibility of sanctions by state bar associations, according to two government sources familiar with the report. The draft, which now goes to Attorney General Eric Holder for approval or revisions, is expected to be finalized in the coming days and is likely to be made public in the near future, Justice Department sources said Tuesday. Other sources say the investigators for the Justice Department’s ethics unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility, have focused heavily on internal communications involving former Office of Legal Counsel lawyers John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury

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Did Waterboarding Prevent Terrorism Attacks?

In the wake of the release of the CIA torture memos, the Obama Administration already has its hands full with critics on the left who want senior Bush Administration officials prosecuted for the use of harsh interrogation techniques like water boarding. But thanks to former Vice President Dick Cheney, it has to deal with a different line of attack from the right. The growing chorus claims the Administration selectively chose which CIA memos to declassify, deliberately holding back documents that show “the success of the effort…specifically what we gained as a result of this activity,” as Cheney put it in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday.

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Obama releases internal Bush Justice Department memos

The Obama administration Monday released nine previously secret internal Justice Department memos and opinions defining the legal limits of government power in combating terrorism. The Bush administration had refused to make the documents public, rejecting demands from congressional Democrats

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