Orrin Hatch strikes again... no subpoena of DoJ memos....

[LittleApple81]

The title refers to Rumsfeld; however, the last part is as vital and shocking as what Rumsfeld did and, I think, a direct consequence of what is discussed in the last paragraphs of the article.


Rumsfeld Admits He Told Jailers to Keep Detainee in Iraq Out of Red Cross View
By THOM SHANKER
Published: June 18, 2004

snip....
Also on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected a proposal by two Democratic senators, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Dianne Feinstein of California, to subpoena Justice Department documents on the administration's policies regarding the treatment of prisoners. The proposal, which was rejected in a 10-9 vote, identified 23 memos, letters or reports from Sept. 25, 2001, through March of this year on topics that included the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and rules for interrogation.

According to the proposal, the documents include a memo from Mr. Rumsfeld to Gen. James T. Hill, the senior officer of the Southern Command, dated April 2003 and titled, "Coercive interrogation techniques that can be used with approval of the Defense Secretary." Another memo dated Jan. 4, 2004, written by the top legal adviser to Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior American commander in Iraq, and sent to military intelligence and police personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison, is titled, "New plan to restrict Red Cross access to Abu Ghraib."

Mr. Leahy and several other senators asked Attorney General John Ashcroft for some of the documents at a June 8 hearing, but Mr. Ashcroft said he would not hand them over, an aide to Mr. Leahy said.

"A formal request would have to come by way of subpoena under the rules of the Senate," said Mark Corallo, a Department of Justice spokesman. "You would think that senators would know their own Senate rules." (my note: they know this would never happen with Hatch in charge and the rest of the criminal repugs in charge.)

Before the vote was taken, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Orrin G. Hatch, told committee members that he had read several of the memos and advised them against voting for the proposal. (my note: What???? HE has read them? what about the rest of the committee??? this is absolutely outrageous!)

"We should not reveal our interrogation techniques to our enemies," said Senator Hatch, Republican of Utah. "There must be some reasonable limits on what can and should be disclosed by the executive branch to Congress and the public about the war against terrorism." (my note: we should not confirm that we wanted torture to happen)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/18/politics/18abus.html?th

[NewHampshireDem]

1. Following his "logic" ...

we should not try murderers, rapist, thieves, childmolesters, kidnappers, or any other criminals, since that will only give other folks ideas about how to commit those crimes.

Thank god we have the GOP (God's Own Party, afterall) to protect us from knowledge. We wouldn't want to ruin our beautiful minds now, would we?

[shraby]

2. It's time to inundate Sen. Hatch

with emails telling him we have a right to know what is in the memos. What was done, was done in our name as citizens!

[JaySherman]

3. It's time to INDICT Sen. Hatch.

Along with all the rest of the f'ing criminals in the GOP and the WH.

[shraby]

4. My letter to Sen. Hatch:

It has come to my attention that you have blocked a subpoena by the Senate Judiciary Committe to obtain memos from Attorney General Ashcroft. Your excuse for blocking said subpoena was that you had read some of the memos and we should not reveal our interrogations methods to our enemies.

You sir, are one of the enemies. It is imperative that these documents be obtained in order to verify whether or not a crime has been committed. By blocking the subpoena you are potentially covering up criminal action. I would suggest you change your stance on the matter because if a crime has been committed, you sir, are an accomplice.

[LittleApple81]

5. I have a question: Is MoveOn.org or a similar organization collecting

signatures about this issue?

[2cents]

6. Checks and balances, LOL

Wonder if there are any noticeable stains on Orrin's lapels?

[LittleApple81]

7. What can be done besides writing letters? Anybody has suggestions? n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

9. A curse thread might work!

Orrin is a good church goin' man in action! All of this is in the congressional records for all to look back on forever! How will the generations down the pike look upon people who did the things these people are doing in All of our names? Bush is a disaster for America and the people who uphold this insanity are just as evil as Bush is!

It's too bad it's the American soldier who will pay for Bush's/Rove's stupidity! The American soldier will be the real victim! "I support the troops," is the biggest saddest GOP lie yet, by far! Maybe Bush wants a breed of super soldiers who will fight to the death for the empire, rather than face being taken alive?

[Gman]

8. He advised voting against the proposal

because the memos are material evidence of war crimes. So, keep the evidence from going public.

Drip, drip, drip, here comes a leak!

[salin]

10. Now why do I doubt that Orin would be singing this same song

under all of the same circumstances and evidence - but under Attorney General Reno? :shrug:

[LittleApple81]

11. kicking for info. n/t

[AlCzervik]

12. Orrin Hatch is trying to get back into the good graces

of his fellow assholes. They were all pissed at him because he had ok'd the investigation into how the repubs got those memos about the judges, remember? They are also pissed at him about reaching an agreement with the democrats regarding no more recess appts. for Dim-son.