There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

Abstract

In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder assigned John Durham as Special Prosecutor to examine whether CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists were illegal. But the catch should have been clear from the start: Holder stipulated that there would be no prosecutions of CIA personnel “who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by” Bush administration lawyers. That guidance consisted of the infamous Yoo/Bybee “Torture Memos,” legal memoranda that later were withdrawn due to their indefensible tendentiousness and legal sleight of hand. Given that warning, perhaps no one should have been surprised when Durham declined to prosecute any cases, including two in which the CIA’s captives died.