The Obama administration has decided to release Bush-era memos from the Office of Legal Counsel dealing with "enhanced interrogation" but has redacted the names of the CIA officers mentioned in the memos. Acknowledging that "withholding these memos would only serve to deny facts that have been in the public domain for some time," the president also said that "it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution." President Obama also pledged that the United States has a "solemn duty to vigorously maintain the classified nature of certain activities and information related to national security." The president's statement nevertheless concluded with this:
The United States is a nation of laws. My Administration will always act in accordance with these laws, and with an unshakeable commitment to our ideals. That is why we have released these memos, and that is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within them never take place again.
The memos themselves are forthcoming, but I'd say it's significant that the immunity offered to CIA officers was not extended to those who enabled the policy in the first place. Full statement after the jump.
UPDATE: In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder offers the government's support to CIA officials who face any kind of legal sanction:
The Attorney General has informed the Central Intelligence Agency that the government would provide legal representation to any employee, at no cost to the employee, in any state or federal judicial or administrative proceeding brought against the employee based on such conduct and would take measures to respond to any proceeding initiated against the employee in any international or foreign tribunal, including appointing counsel to act on the employee's behalf and asserting any available immunities and other defenses in the proceeding itself.
To the extent permissible under federal law, the government will also indemnify any employee for any monetary judgment or penalty ultimately imposed against him for such conduct and will provide representation in congressional investigations.
-- A. Serwer
