Grover Norquist: Torture Investigations Are "A Good Idea"

One of the leading conservative figures in Washington D.C. said on Monday that he supports Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to open an investigation into the use of torture by the Bush administration.

"I think it's a good idea," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, during a guest-host appearance on MSNBC.

Norquist immediately became the most high-profile conservative voice to express his approval for the Obama Justice Department's preliminary probe. And while his position was unexpected - prompting a double take from co-host Carlos Watson - his reasoning was equally surprising: He said he wants the precedent to launch post-presidential investigations into the Obama administration.

"Holder is making a decision that one administration should go back and second-guess another administration. Yes, it's political but he is also opening the door to what will happen after Holder and Obama's legacy here," he said. "I think that someday when we have a different Justice Department, people need to go back and look at how all of this money in the stimulus package was paid. And who it went to. What about all of those secret meetings that were never transparent about who was going to get what?"

"The Bush administration started their administration foolishly, not seriously looking into the cash for pardons challenge that the Clinton administration had," Norquist added. "They were wrong to decide not to do that and I think that the next Republican administration will follow Holder's path rather than the Bush path of the past."

Norquist is correct that the Bush administration declined to look into the pardons Clinton issued during the end of his presidency. But congressional Republicans, expressing indignation over the matter, did hold hearings into the pardon scandal, while the U.S. attorney's office in New York initiated an investigation. Republicans in Congress also investigated allegations that Clinton aides had trashed the Oval Office and Air Force One shortly before leaving the White House.

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Comments

[jsgaetano]

I'm surprised Grover isn't whining that investigations would use tax money, and thus Bush and Cheney's illegal torture and their imprisonment of US Citizens shouldn't be investigated.

[Skepticat]

In theory Justice departments are supposed to conduct impartial investigations to see if crimes have been committed and prosecute according to the rules of law when there is sufficient evidence to do so. If they don't do this with objectivity the concept of rule of law is meaningless.

[henrywolff]

Has statute of limitations run on Holder and Bill selling pardons?

[jsgaetano]

Can you cite which laws they broke?

[Horus45]

They conveniently forget how much investigating they did with Clinton.
Or rather they are trying to make the public forget how much investigating they did!

Besides, there is NO comparison between investigating TORTURE and investigating Pardons!

[Madmac]

Let's start with you grover

[Genep34]

Just another drunk repub.

[texanna]

I'd like to nominate Mr. Norquist to be #1 on the list of torturees.

[Genep34]

This guy is one of the most despicable men in America. He typifies the GOP.

He wants Holder to go after law breakers so the when the GOP is in power they can politicize the justice dept. and go after dems for being dems.

[Horus45]

"so the when the GOP is in power they can politicize the justice dept. and go after dems for being dems."

You mean like they already did!
And we still have a good number of those political appointees in Justice, like the Seigleman Prosecutor.
Or the Attorney that spent $12 Million tax dollars to send Tommy Chong to prison for 6 months.

[skippypicasso]

"Second-guess"?

We don't have a Department of Second-Guessing, we have a Department of Justice. Why won't Holder just tell everyone that it might be better for us to do our own investigation instead of waiting for the Hague to do it for us?

[rbenjamin]

Does Norquist have any relevance outside of minor name recognition these days? He brings the phrase "I am the great powerful Oz" to mind.

[StillAmused]

"Holder is making a decision that one administration should go back and second-guess another administra­tion." ?

Nahhh... it's a decision that criminals should be prosecuted. Happens every day, in every criminal court in the country.

'Course, on Planet Norquist, the really, REALLY BIG crimes -- aggressive invasions and occupations, hundreds of thousands k i ll ed and injured, tortured and displaced -- are a special case. Those are referred to, with a wink, as "protecting America and defending our freedoms."

This is the land of opportunity for knu.ckle.d­.rag.ging so_cio_pat_hs.

[StillAmused]

"Holder is making a decision that one administration should go back and second-guess another administra­tion." ?

Nahhh... it's a decision that criminals should be prosecuted. Happens every day, in every criminal court in the country.

'Course, on Planet Norquist, the really, REALLY BIG crimes -- aggressive invasions and occupations, hundreds of thousands k i lled and injured, tortured and displaced -- are a special case. Those are referred to, with a wink, as "protecting America and defending our freedoms."

This is the land of opportunity for knuckledragging so cio pat hs.

[imworking4me]

Hey Grover! Say whatever you want. You're still a pe&whipped nebbish in my book, and you'll be shuffling around the publicly funded nursing home well before the next Repug is elected president~

[useyourbrain]

Let's look into the history of all pardons of the last 40 years, especially the ones by Reagan and Papi Bush to terrorists and drug kingpins.

[2moons]

There is no question that the U.S. President has the legal authority to grant pardons, including the pardon of those involved in covering-up illegal leaks of CIA personnel (Libby).

Article 2, Section 2...[The President] shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Torture is illegal and MUST be investigated and prosecuted according to U.S. law and international treaties.

Article 1, UN Convention Against Torture (1988 Reagan):

"...tortur­e means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession­..."

Furthermore (Article 2):

1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.
2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.
3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Does Norquist believe that the presidential pardon is morally, ethically, politcally and/or legal equivilant to torture?

[HowietheScreamer]

Only when that pardon is granted by a Dem.