Attorney General
Ashcroft, Chertoff Among Those Who Raised Concerns About Interrogations
Posted May 22, 2008, 06:59 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Among the Justice Department officials who raised concerns about harsh interrogations of al-Qaida suspects were Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security chief who was at the time the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division, and the attorney general himself, John Ashcroft.
Sources told the Washington Post that Ashcroft resented back-channel discussions with the White House by one of his lawyers, John Yoo of the Office of Legal Counsel. Ashcroft disliked some of Yoo’s conclusions in a series of legal memos that harsh techniques were legal, the story says.
A 370-page report released this week says Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller raised concerns, without success. The report said FBI agents refused to take part in harsh interrogations under Mueller’s orders, according to a story published yesterday by the Wall Street Journal.
The Post story says Chertoff was concerned the methods were not effective and feared that evidence obtained would be considered tainted, even if suspects were re-interviewed.
One of the Justice Department lawyers who was most persistent in challenging harsh techniques was Bruce Swartz, a criminal division deputy in charge of international issues, according to the story. He warned of “grave damage” to the reputation of the United States.
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