Given how investigations of this administration have generally gone (Scooter Libby, anyone?), getting our hopes up over this one is probably unwise, but at least Mukasey is making the right noises:
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed an outside prosecutor to oversee the case....
"The Department's National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation," Mukasey said in a statement released Wednesday.
Mukasey named John Durham, a federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to oversee the case. Durham has a reputation as one of the nation's most relentless prosecutors. He served as an outside prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the FBI's use of mob informants in Boston and helped send several Connecticut public officials to prison.
Congress is also investigating. And speaking of the Plame case, guess who's representing Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA official who ordered the tapes destroyed? Yup, Bob Bennett, of Judy Miller fame. Yech.
Update: Via gchauser2 in comments, here's a TPM profile on Durham. Emptywheel has some info, too (via joejoejoe in comments). From the TPM link:
As the AP puts it, "Durham has a reputation as one of the nation's most relentless prosecutors. He served as an outside prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the FBI's use of mob informants in Boston and helped send several Connecticut public officials to prison."