BREAKING . . .
Breaking, from TPM
Justice Department launches criminal probe of destruction of CIA torture tapes.
Late Update: AP reports that Attorney General Michael Mukasey has named an outside prosecutor to handle the criminal investigation.
Later Update: Who is John Durham? Paul Kiel takes a look at the deputy U.S. attorney in Connecticut whom Mukasey named to oversee the investigation.
Update: Gunny6247 has a diary too
Update:
Maybe "outside prosecutor" is not the best description.
David Kurtz at TPM added this to his article at TPM:
Even Later: There's some question about whether it is proper to call Durham an "outside counsel." He will not have the independence of Patrick Fitzgerald, for example, in the Plame investigation; rather, as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, he will report to the deputy attorney general just like any other U.S. attorney. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has recused itself, presumably because most of the most important terrorism cases have been handled by that office.
From Paul Kiel
The man Michael Mukasey chose to lead the CIA tapes probe is John Durham. Who is John Durham? Well, the short answer is a 30-year veteran prosecutor with some serious experience with tough prosecutions.
We've posted his work experience below, as passed along by the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut, where Durham serves as the deputy.
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."
Here is an interesting extra tidbit from CBS
Because of conflicts among the officials who have been conducting the early probe, Mukasey also announced the recusal of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the District in which the CIA headquarters are located, which would ordinarily conduct the investigation.
And let's see if this pans out! -- over a week ago,
AG Michael Mukasey issued guidelines aimed at limiting contacts between the White House and the Justice Department, seeking to overcome allegations of political interference that dogged his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.
I wonder if he was preparing for what was coming down the pike.