SENATE REPUBLICANS WITHDRAW FROM INVESTIGATION OF CIA TORTURE POLICY

Republican Senators have chosen to withdraw from an investigation of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence looking into CIA torture practices. Their wholesale withdrawal reveals the disdain of these Republicans for the rule of law and equal justice for all. It wasn't just George W. Bush who politicized every governmental decision. The rest of the Republicans seem adept at doing exactly the same.

Peter Finn writes for The Washington Post:

"Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said Friday that they will no longer participate in an investigation into the Bush administration's interrogation policies, arguing that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s decision to reexamine allegations of detainee abuse by the CIA would hobble any inquiry."

The rationale for the Committee's Republican Senators is weak. They object to AG Eric Holder's appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct a DOJ investigation. They claim the DOJ investigation will make their fact-finding impossible.

But I suspect the real reason is that the Republicans don't want any serious investigation. They can interpret witness testimony at their Senate hearings to say anything they want. But a DOJ investigation is a different matter, not able to be so easily bent to fit around their preconceived beliefs.