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Senate committee considers 'truth commission' to investigate Bush policies

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for the creation of a truth commission to investigate the national security policies of the George W. Bush administration at a hearing Wednesday. Leahy said a nonpartisan inquiry "could focus on the issues of national security and executive power in the government's counterterrorism efforts, including the issues of cruel interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws." Leahy said a commission would not be focused on preparing criminal indictments, but it should have subpoena powers. Ranking Republican on the committee Arlen Specter (R-PA) opposed the formation of a commission, saying the Department of Justice (DOJ), under a new administration, was equipped to handle any such investigation. The committee heard testimony in favor of a commission from former ambassador to the UN Thomas Pickering, Retired Vice Adm. Lee Gunn, former 9-11 commission member John Farmer and attorney Federick A.O. Schwarz Jr. Former DOJ official David Rivkin and George Mason University professor Jeremy Rabkin testified in opposition to a truth commission. The hearing came two days after the DOJ released Bush-era documents in support of that administration's controversial counterterrorism tactics. Leahy announced the hearing in February, saying the panel's primary focus would be interrogation tactics, extraordinary rendition, and Bush's broad use of executive authority. Leahy first called for the creation of such a commission earlier in February. Members of the House Judiciary Committee have also called for an investigation into the actions of Bush administration officials, and Obama has said that he would not rule out such an investigation. The Senate Armed Services Committee has alleged that top Bush officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "bore major responsibility" for abuses committed by US interrogators in military detention centers.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 04, 2009 (boomark / email).