Political storm clouds
Recent developments suggest how a future Democratic-controlled government is likely to act. If the Democrats regain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, various committees will surely issue a flurry of subpoenas. Michigan Democrat John Conyers Jr., who would be the new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, already wrote in a May 18 Washington Post op-ed: “We need to know the extent to which high-ranking officials approved the use of torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment inflicted upon detainees.”
Furthermore, if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, control of the prosecutorial arm of the government would likely pass into hands hostile to lawbreakers under the preceding administration. Even the election of a Republican president would not assure a free pass. After all, some Republicans, including reputed presidential front-runner John McCain, have urged taking a hard line against torture, and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter has questioned executive-authorized NSA eavesdropping.
Law-breaking administration operatives and those who transmitted presidential orders to them could face real heat from any number of angles. And as my son noted when I bounced my thoughts off him, if Bush gives medals to people who screw up, why not pardons?
Harvey Silverglate, a criminal and civil-liberties lawyer, is a long-time Freedom Watch contributor. Dustin Lewis assisted in the preparation of this piece.
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