Reid splits from Pelosi on torture

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Reid splits from Pelosi on torture

Senate Democratic leaders continue to resist calls for creation of an independent commission to investigate the interrogation tactics authorized by the Bush administration.

“I think it would very unwise from my perspective to start having commissions, boards, tribunals until we find out what the facts are,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), reiterating his support for the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate the interrogations.

Reid’s statement puts him at odds with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has called for a formal “truth commission” to probe into the interrogations and legal justifications for tactics like water boarding. And President Barack Obama opened the door to creating a bipartisan commission similar to the one formed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Reid denied that there was any split among Democrats.

“I don’t think there is division,” Reid said. “Justice must be served. Retribution should not be what we’re talking about.”

But it’s clear that Senate Democrats want to go slowly on what has become a volatile issue.

“It is in our best interest if we are going to do this sensibly, prudently to wait until Sen. Feinstein completes this investigation,” said Senate Majority Whip ####### Durbin (D-Ill.).

After the Intelligence Committee finishes its inquiry, Reid said he would be open to forming a bipartisan panel similar to ones proposed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

“We must get the information. It’s spotty now and I think that a few months waiting to determine the right way to go about this is certainly not going to hurt us.”

Reid said “it would be wrong” to discuss the details of the classified briefings he received on the interrogations, adding that he didn’t remember exactly when he was briefed.

Durbin said the Senate should wait for a Justice Department report about the involvement of the agency in authorizing the tactics before deciding if Congress should sanction Bush administration attorney Jay Bybee, now a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

A Tuesday evening report released by the Senate Armed Services committee found that Bybee played a key role in crafting the legal justifications, legalizing techniques previously deemed illegal by U.S. and international law.

“If people had known his involvement in either drafting or approving these memoranda then I think the hearing would have taken a lot long,” said Reid. “But this of course, come out later.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) plans to hold hearings investigating the role Bush administration lawyers played in justifying the interrogating techniques.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21634.html