• Leahy's Bid for Truth

  Posted Monday, February 09, 2009 3:18 PM | By Emily Bazelon
  
  
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  Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the judiciary committee, is calling for a truth commission to investigate various unfortunate doings at the Bush Department of Justice. The commission would have subpoena power but witnesses wouldn't open themselves to criminal charges by testifying, except perjury. That probably means immunity—if not blanket immunity, then protection for anything a witness tells the committee. In other words, it's about finding out what happened, not punishment. There are other ways this could happen—various lawsuits could reveal more about DoJ's innerworkings, and the Obama DoJ could also just release internal documents on its own. The advantage a congressional commission offers are a few good interrogators (calling Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse), and the chance to frame the questions, and to write a big report with gravitas, 9/11-commission style. But Leahy's proposal isn't what the Obama administration has called for. Good for Leahy for putting this on the table so that the president and his new lawyers will have to respond.
  
  Filed under: Department of Justice, Obama, Patrick Leahy, truth commission
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