JOHN H. DURHAM TO INVESTIGATE MISSING TORTURE TAPES; BUSH SAID TO PEE

By Lawyer World Land

All I know is, if I were being investigated by John H. Durham, I'd probably save him the trouble and commit suicide.

Durham is the First Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. Durham shaves with a .45 and brushes his teeth with a wire grille brush. He is so incorruptible that when Angelina Jolie propositioned him he immediately jumped out of the window and deliberately fractured both his knees so he couldn't do anything. Then he called his wife and made her drive him to confession.

Okay, I made that up. But it's true that when the city of Boston got caught discovered that its FBI office was in bed with the mob and had been murdering people and framing other people for the murders, they called in John H. Durham. Within five minutes all the bad guys were in maximum security.

This pissed off the mob and they tried to kill Durham, but the cops loved Durham so much they volunteered by the dozen to stake out his house. Cops generally love Durham. Hell, even defense lawyers love Durham. He's Dudley Do-Right but somehow he manages not to be a jerk about it. Nobody can figure out how.

I hope when he is finished with this investigation the Capo goes to jail. Durham has never lost a case.

Of course he never had one in which the Capo could pardon himself, either.

____________

Conyers Wants Probe Into CIA Tapes
By John Bresnahan

(The Politico) Attorney General Michael Mukasey's decision earlier today to appoint a veteran federal prosecutor to oversee a criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA videotapes has not mollifed Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who still wants a special counsel appointed to oversee the case.

Mukasey has chosen John Durham, an assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to run the investigation. Durham will "serve as acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia for purposes of this matter." Mukasey said. "Mr. Durham is a widely respected and experienced career prosecutor who has supervised a wide range of complex investigations in the past, and I am grateful to him for his willingness to serve in this capacity. As the acting United States attorney for purposes of this investigation, Mr. Durham will report to the deputy attorney general, as do all United States attorneys in the ordinary course. I have also directed the FBI to conduct the investigation under Mr. Durham’s supervision."

Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney in Alexandria, Va., has recused himself from the CIA probe. Rosenberg worked in former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' office during the period when the fate of the CIA tapes, which included records of 2002 interrogations of top Al Qaeda operatives, were reportedly discussed with the CIA and White House. The tapes were destroyed in 2005 by CIA officials despite legal objections. A preliminary probe by DOJ and the CIA's inspector general determined that a criminal probe was warranted, which led to Mukasey's announcement today.

But Durham's appointment did not satisfy House Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers, who wants a special counsel appointed instead. Conyers said Mukasey "stepped outside the Justice Department's own regulations" by refusing to appoint a special counsel.

"While I certainly agree that these matters warrant an immediate criminal investigation, it is disappointing that the attorney general has stepped outside the Justice Department’s own regulations and declined to appoint a more independent special counsel in this matter." Conyers said in a statement released by his office. "Because of this action, the Congress and the American people will be denied — as they were in the Valerie Plame matter — any final report on the investigation."

__________

Justice Dept. Sets Criminal Inquiry Into C.I.A. Tapes
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID JOHNSTON, New York Times

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that the Justice Department had elevated its inquiry into the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation videotapes into a formal criminal investigation to be headed by an outside prosecutor.

The announcement is the first sign that investigators believe C.I.A. officers, possibly along with other government officials, may have committed criminal acts in their handling of the tapes, which depicted the interrogations in 2002 of two Al Qaeda operatives and were destroyed in 2005.

The tapes were never provided to the Sept. 11 commission or to the courts, and the question of whether to destroy them was for nearly three years the subject of deliberations at the highest levels of the Bush administration.

Mr. Mukasey assigned an outside investigator, a federal prosecutor from Connecticut, to lead the criminal inquiry in tandem with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecutor, John H. Durham, is likely empanel a grand jury to hear testimony to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges, which could include obstruction of justice.

As an outside prosecutor, Mr. Durham oversaw an investigation into the F.B.I.’s use of mob informants in Boston. He has been lead prosecutor in several successful corruption cases in Connecticut.

The announcement came after a joint inquiry by the Justice Department and the C.I.A.’s inspector general determined that the destruction of the tapes warranted a full criminal investigation. In an announcement on Wednesday, John Helgerson, the inspector general, said he would recuse himself from the investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Mr. Helgerson’s office had reviewed the videotapes, documenting the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, as part of an investigation into the agency ‘s secret detention and interrogation program.

The tapes are thought to portray the use of the technique known as waterboarding, which simulates drowning and which has widely been condemned as torture.

Mr. Helgerson completed his investigation into the program in early 2004.

The newly announced investigation is likely to provide fodder on the presidential campaign trail for critics of administration policies on the detention and interrogation of terror suspects.

The fate of the tapes had been debated by at least four top White House lawyers, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials.

Those officials said the White House lawyers included Alberto R. Gonzales, then the White House counsel and later the attorney general. Mr. Gonzales resigned under pressure on Aug. 27, and Mr. Mukasey succeeded him.

Administration critics blamed Mr. Gonzales for carving out positions on detention and interrogation they deemed too permissive. So the actions of Mr. Mukasey, who as a federal judge in New York built a reputation as tough on terrorism, are being closely watched.

It remains unclear how various administration officials argued on the matter of the tapes, though one former senior intelligence official familiar with the matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House officials that the tapes should be destroyed.

White House spokesmen have been scrupulous about not commenting on the matter, citing investigations already begun by the C.I.A. inspector general and Congress.

The C.I.A. said that it would “cooperate fully with this investigation, as it has with others into this matter.”

The House Intelligence Committee has ordered Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the former C.I.A. official who has been described by intelligence officials as having authorized the destruction of the tapes, to appear at a hearing on Jan. 16.

Brian Knowlton contributed reporting.