Update: Well, for anyone still reading this, mcjoan has a much more cogent take on this report. In short: the OPR's recommendations are not binding, the report is basically a Bush-DOJ whitewash that Holder is free to ignore, it's still an unusually harsh judgment on the lawyers involved, and the report's contents could still potentially be fodder for prosecutorial evidence. So basically it sounds like we're back where we've been.
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Okay, well here's something that looks like a big belly drop. According to sources quoted in the New York Times, the DOJ is set to release a report that states prosecutions are not recommended for the authors of the famous torture memos: Bybee, Yoo, et al.
Charges Seen as Unlikely for Lawyers Over Interrogations
WASHINGTON — An internal Justice Department inquiry into the conduct of Bush administration lawyers who wrote secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations has concluded that the authors committed serious lapses of judgment but should not be criminally prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on a draft of the findings.
The report purportedly will ask for the lawyers to be disciplined by the bar:
The report by the Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal ethics unit within the Justice Department, is also likely to ask that state bar associations consider possible disciplinary action, including reprimands or even disbarment, for some of the lawyers involved in writing the legal opinions, the officials said.
It also says Holder hasn't approved the report but is not likely to change much in it. Then there's a lot of legal blah blah. Noticeably, the Times picks up on the fact that the DOJ seems to be ignoring our prosecuting Japanese soldiers for waterboarding. No word whether that's touched on in the report.
The lawyers have until Sunday to respond. Salon's Alex Koppleman says the Bush crowd is lobbying hard to get even this report watered down to less severe language.
It really sounds like the lawyers will walk away with a slap on the wrist, if this report is accurate. So do any lawyers in the audience know if this is really the DOJ endgame, and whether it's all up to the Senate now (in which case, God help us). And if so, what the hell do we do now?