Soufan, Zelikow to Testify On Torture

[kpete]

Source: Washington Independent

Soufan, Zelikow to Testify On Torture
By Spencer Ackerman 5/4/09 3:00 PM

Whether or not House Democrats end up seeing the anti-torture memo that Philip Zelikow wrote while at the State Department in 2005, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee is working out arrangements for Zelikow to testify on May 13 — next Wednesday — about the Justice Department’s Bush-era authorization of torture, according to a Senate staffer. Also expected to be at that hearing: Ali Soufan, the former FBI official who recently blasted torture apologists for misrepresenting the efficacy of Abu Zubaydah’s interrogation. (I have my own questions about Soufan’s account of his dealings with Abu Zubaydah.) Judiciary’s subcommittee on administrative oversight and the courts, chaired by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), is going to hold the hearing, which is likely to be one of the most dramatic hearings the committee’s heard since former Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey described the midnight ride to John Ashcroft’s bedside in May 2007 and ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrecked his career before the panel two months later.


Read more: http://washingtonindependent.com/41745/soufan-zelikow-to-testify-on-torture

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Sen. Whitehouse Takes on Torture Memos
By Daphne Eviatar 5/4/09 4:08 PM

To follow up on my earlier post about Sen. Pat Leahy’s (D-Vt.) refusal to hold hearings on the torture memos as chair of the Judiciary Committee, we now learn, as Spencer just wrote, that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has boldly taken the reins, using the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, which he chairs, to hold hearings to start trying to get to the bottom of just how and why those memos were written — and on whose orders.

Former State Department adviser Philip Zelikow’s testimony could go a long way toward revealing how his contrary advice — he says he warned Bush administration officials that the torture and abuse of prisoners as illegal — was ignored by the lawyers and policymakers in charge. The key, though, would be getting those lawyers and policymakers to testify about why they ignored it.

http://washingtonindependent.com/41756/sen-whitehouse-takes-on-torture-memos

[sofa king]

1. Interesting. The same Dr. Zelikow who nerfed the 9/11 Commission.

[barbtries]

3. yeah

and IIRC condi rice's best friend and co author. they both appear to be in full throttle CYA mode. still, it's going to be interesting.

[barbtries]

2. i'm gonna have to put this one on my calendar

should be very very interesting.