All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the Obama administration's decision to try professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal court is a political move to satisfy "left-wing critics" of military tribunals.

Attorney General Eric Holder has drawn heavy fire from Republicans and some Democrats since announcing last week that Mohammed and four alleged henchmen would be prosecuted in a civilian trial instead of a military tribunal. A CBS News poll released earlier this week shows Americans wary of the idea as well, with 54 percent opposed compared to 40 percent in favor.

Giuliani, who was mayor at the time of the World Trade Center attacks, said the move was part of a political agenda "because it makes no sense," during an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show" Thursday.

"The reality is that they could be tried in a military tribunal. There is no reason to try them in a civilian court. Others are going to be tried in the military tribunal. And the reality is we've never done this before. And this is something that was pushed very, very hard by the left wing for President Obama to do and he's been criticized for delaying in doing it."

Read full post…

Attorney General Eric Holder defended on Wednesday his decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four other terror suspects in a federal court in New York City.

At left: In this Feb. 25 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder listens during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Holder testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee defending his decision to put the professed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial in New York.

Holder defended his decision and addressed critics while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Holder told senators that the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, just blocks away from where the World Trade Center once stood, was "the venue in which we were most likely to obtain justice for the American people."

"For eight years justice has been delayed for the 9/11 attacks," Holder said during his testimony. "No more delay. It is time; it is past time to finally act."

Read full post…

Seven former CIA directors sent a letter to President Obama on Friday urging him to use his authority to reverse Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to re-open and pursue cases of prisoner abuse within the CIA in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In August, Holder appointed a U.S. prosecutor to begin a criminal probe of CIA questioning of terror suspects during the Bush administration, reversing the course set by the Bush administration. The investigation potentially exposes CIA employees and agency contractors to criminal prosecution.

"Attorney General Holder's decision to re-open the criminal investigation creates an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy for those whose cases the Department of Justice had previously declined to prosecute," the former officials wrote. "Moreover, there is no reason to expect that the re-opened criminal investigation will remain narrowly focused."

Allowing a political appointee to reopen an already-closed case would "seriously damage the willingness of many other intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country," the officials wrote, since they would run the risk of facing "endless criminal investigations" for actions that may have previously been deemed legal.

"Those men and women who undertake difficult intelligence assignments in the aftermath of an attack such as September 11 must believe there is permanence in the legal rules that govern their actions," the letter said.

Read full post…

Former Bush administration counselor and CBS News Analyst Dan Bartlett told The Early Show this morning that Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into CIA interrogation practices will "pull the rug out from under" CIA agents currently in the field.

Read full post…

Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions said Sunday that he believes it is not necessary to appoint a special criminal prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation policies.

Though President Obama has spoken against such an investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly seriously considering making the appointment.

"We've had probably in my committees, Judiciary and Armed Services, thirty or more hearings on this," Sessions told CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation". "The Intelligence Committee has had great numbers of hearings and written reports on it. The military has done a series of independent reports. And I believe that that's sufficient. I don't believe a special commission is necessary.

"We were facing some real challenges, and our people tried to do the best they could," explained Sessions. "And I don't think I see the evidence yet to justify any prosecutions."

Vermont's Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy told Schieffer that while he prefers a commission of inquiry, he is "not going to interfere with a special prosecutor."

Read full post…

Add another name to the Obama administration's injured reserve list.

One day after we learned that Hillary Clinton won't be travelling to Russia because of a broken elbow comes word that Attorney General Eric Holder is dropping out of the Aspen Ideas Festival.

The reason, as CBS News' Deidre Hester reports, is that the AG is having emergency dental surgery today for removal of a cracked tooth. Holder's spokesman said the tooth had to be removed immediately.

Holder was supposed to have participated in an afternoon session today at the festival, which "features leaders from the fields of arts, science, culture, religion, philosophy, economics and politics."

Seeking to calm fears that al Qaeda terrorists could be set free on U.S. soil, Attorney General Eric Holder pledged today that prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison facility would not be released in the United States.

"We would not bring them into this country and release them," Holder said.

The Obama administration promises to close the detainment center in just eight months. Holder did not rule out some of detainees being brought to the United States for trial.

The possibility of terrorists coming to America has been met with "Not in My Backyard" objections from members of both major political parties.

Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) asked CBS News this question: "Do you know of any community in the United States of America that would welcome terrorists?"

Read full post…

The Department of Justice today released four memos describing the use of waterboarding and other drastic interrogation techniques, even as it announced that it would not prosecute intelligence officials who used methods that some consider to be torture.

President Barack Obama weighed in on the decision not to punish CIA officials in a statement released today.

"This is a time for reflection, not retribution," Mr. Obama said in a statement. "I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke. We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past."

The memos consist of previously undisclosed opinions written by the Office of Legal Counsel(OLC) from 2002-2005. In releasing the memos, Mr. Obama said that he hoped to set the record straight about what techniques were employed. The president stated that in general he believes that national security information must remain classified, but these memos presented unique challenges.

Read The Memos Here

"Withholding these memos would only serve to deny facts that have been in the public domain for some time," Mr. Obama said. "This could contribute to an inaccurate accounting of the past, and fuel erroneous and inflammatory assumptions about actions taken by the United States."

Read full post…

Vice President Biden and Attorney General Holder have both weighed in on the seizing of the US Maersk Alabama by pirates off the Somali coast.

"The FBI is assisting the Navy with a crisis team. The FBI is in touch with the people in the Navy to try and assist in that situation," Holder told reporters.

In reference to whether the pirates may face criminal charges in the United States, the attorney general said, "it is a little early tell, at this point. There has not been an act of piracy I think against a United States vessel in hundreds of years. So ah...I'm not sure exactly what would happen."

"What we'd have to do is make sure the maritime life of this nation is is protected. Is what we have to do," he elaborated.

Biden was also asked about the pirate situation during an event to promote stimulus spending.

Read full post…

Attorney General Eric Holder does not believe anyone could plausibly claim the Justice Department moved too slowly while investigating misconduct in the corruption case against former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens.

In an exclusive interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Holder, who noted that he has only been in his post for eight weeks, said he doesn’t think “anybody can say that this department has dragged its feet.”

He pointed out that “in this limited time that I've been Attorney General,” he “looked at the case, decided that mistakes had been made, and made the determination that the case had to be dismissed, looking at the totality of the circumstances.”

Holder also told Couric that he will not fire two major targets of the investigation, lead prosecutor Brenda Morris and William Welch during the probe.

“You're reportedly close to the lead prosecutor, Brenda Morris, who's under investigation for failing, among other things, to disclose crucial information to defense lawyers in this case,” Couric pointed out to Holder. “Another target of the investigation is, apparently, William Welch, who's head of the office, ironically, of public integrity. Will you fire either one of them? Will they stay on during the course of these investigations?”

Read full post…