Rep. Conyers Does What Sen. Leahy Was Too Afraid Of

This past week a group of Vermont citizens found out that their senior senator had failed them in seeking out justice and accountability for the crimes committed by the Bush Administration. Not only did Leahy not demand those accused to be tried in court, he couldn't muster the courage to call for a phony "Truth Commission" that would air out all the dirty laundry of the past eight years. Thankfully though we have a fighter in House that is willing to go above and beyond Vermont's weak-kneed senator.

From The Public Record:

On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers quietly released the final draft of an extensive report he first unveiled in January documenting the Bush administration’s “unreviewable war powers” and the possible crimes committed in implementing those policies.

In order to determine whether Bush officials broke laws, Conyers has recommended that Attorney General Eric Holder appoint a special prosecutor to launch a criminal inquiry to investigate, among other things, whether “enhanced interrogation techniques” used against alleged terrorist detainees violated international and federal laws against torture.

“The Attorney General should appoint a Special Counsel to determine whether there were criminal violations committed pursuant to Bush Administration policies that were undertaken under unreviewable war powers, including enhanced interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless domestic surveillance,” Conyers’s report says. “In this regard, the report firmly rejects the notion that we should move on from these matters.” An earlier draft of the report contained a similar recommendation, but the final version includes additional evidence that has surfaced since January to support Conyers's reasoning s for a special prosecutor. The updated version “highlights significant source materials and Judiciary Committee accomplishments, and accounts for the final days of the Bush Administration.”

Now the ball is in Attorney General Holder's court. Far from the Bush sycophant that former A.G. Mukasey was, Holder has a much higher regard for the rule of law. Of course he still actually has to go through with appointing a prosecutor, so he has to prove he's worthy in the eyes of the law. Hopefully Obama and his top man at the Justice Department will have the agency live up to its' name for the first time in over eight year.