[R-G] Republican backs investigation of Bush-era crimes

[Sid Shniad]

http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3322083/Republican-backs-investigation-of-Bush-era-crimes.html 



Welt Online                                                                                                                               March 5, 2009 



'Truth Commission' 



Republican backs investigation of Bush-era crimes 



Bush administration officials who knowingly approved faulty legal opinions to justify antiterrorism measures including torture should face prosecution, a leading Republican senator said on Wednesday. Senator Arlen Specter said there were signs authorities believe crimes may have been committed. 



Senator Arlen Specter, the top ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said investigating them would not require a special “truth commission,” an idea gaining momentum among Democrats and rights advocates. 



“If we have evidence of torture -- torture is a violation of our law -- go after them. If there is reason to believe that these (Bush-era) Justice Department officials have knowingly given the president cover for things they know not to be right and sound, go after them,” Specter said at a committee hearing on the truth commission proposal. 



Patrick Leahy, the committee’s Democratic chairman, has proposed a South African-style truth commission to expose and learn lessons from elements of former President George W. Bush’s war on terrorism. These include abusive interrogations of terrorism suspects and warrantless domestic eavesdropping.