The Questions Eric Holder Should Be Asked

The Nation. Posted January 15, 2009.

from MICHAEL RATNER and the Center For Constitutional Rights:

Vice President Cheney has admitted that he approved the use of waterboarding and said he would do so again. Senators Levin and McCain, along with twenty-three other Democrats and Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, found that former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld was responsible for aggressive interrogation techniques that led to abuses at Abu Gharib, Guantánamo and elsewhere. In light of these admissions and findings of conduct that constitute open and notorious violations of federal criminal law -- would you promise the American people to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Cheney, Rumsfeld and others -- including President Bush -- who were involved in the torture program?

Recently issued Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations allow the FBI to begin an assessment, conduct surveillance and infiltrate an organization without any indication that a crime has been committed or is being planned. These guidelines grant the FBI authority to investigate individuals solely on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion or political belief, opening the door for racial profiling and persecution of political dissidents. As attorney general, would you revoke these guidelines and communicate clearly to the public and to the FBI that no domestic investigations shall be performed without any indication of criminal activity and that profiling of any sort cannot be employed?

from AZIZ HUQ, Brennan Center for Justice:

What will the Justice Department do to expedite the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay? Specifically, will you support the speedy and thorough development of criminal cases, where warranted, against high-level Al Qaeda leaders to ensure that the prison can be closed as quickly as possible?

There are more than 2 million people behind bars in the United States. There are more than 5 million more on probation or other forms of supervised release. It is clear incarceration or the rigidly penal approach to problems such as narcotics is failing. What do you intend to do to rectify this failure?

from NAN ARON, Alliance for Justice:

President-elect Obama has said that he is looking for judges who will ensure that our courts become "a refuge for justice" and who are "sympathetic enough to those who are on the outside, those who are vulnerable, those who are powerless, those who can't have access to political power and as a consequence can't protect themselves from being…dealt with sometimes unfairly." How will you go about helping President Obama fulfill this promise? Are you willing to draw your nominees from a talent pool of legal services, public interest, criminal defense and civil rights lawyers?

from ARI MELBER, Nation Netroots Correspondent:

Here's a question originally posed by law professor Jonathan Turley to your predecessor Michael Mukasey: Is waterboarding a crime under U.S. law, and will you prosecute recent instances of waterboarding?

See more stories tagged with: dick cheney, barack obama, guantánamo, david cole, michael ratner, john nichols, ari melber, eric holder, eric holder confirmation, u.s. attorney general, nan aron, aziz huq, abu gharib, department of jutice

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