President Obama just completed a brief news availability from the White House with the King of Jordan. After answering some questions regarding Iran and on the Middle East Peace process, he was asked about prosecution of Bush offcials involved in torture. After reiterating that CIA officers in the field would not be investigated, he turned his attention to the authors of those memos.
Story:
President Obama today defended his opposition to prosecuting CIA employees who conducted harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects but left open the possibility that officials who approved the techniques could face legal liability.
Obama also indicated that if Congress wants to examine the "enhanced interrogation program" conceived during the Bush administration, an independent commission might be a better vehicle to do so than a congressional panel that could break down along party lines and produce divisions.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting at the White House with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Obama said he told CIA employees yesterday during a visit to CIA headquarters in Northern Virginia that "I have their back." He insisted that he is not "naive about how dangerous this world is" and said he wakes up every day and goes to bed every night thinking and worrying "about how to keep the American people safe."
Video to come soon. Again, this was in response to a question from AP during the Photo Op with the King of Jordan. You'll recall that Newsweek was teasing this in their torture story, in as much as Holder was thinking of going his own way:
Last week Obama—over the CIA's bitter opposition—permitted the release of Justice Department documents spelling out in great detail the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA and permitted by Justice Department lawyers. That decision alone was one of the hardest the new president has had to face, say his aides.
But the Obama administration is not off the hook. Though administration officials declared that CIA interrogators who followed Justice's legal guidance on torture would not be prosecuted, that does not mean the inquiries are over. Senior Justice Department lawyers and other advisers, who declined to be identified discussing a sensitive subject, say Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is seriously considering appointing an outside counsel to investigate whether CIA interrogators exceeded legal boundaries—and whether Bush administration officials broke the law by giving the CIA permission to torture in the first place. Even if Holder takes a pass, Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is still pushing for a "truth commission." In a democracy, the wheels of justice grind on—and the president, for good reason under the rule of law, does not have the power to stop them.
But the quote from the above WaPo article comes directly from the the President. Per the footage from MSNBC, President Obama appears to want this to be handled (if at all) outside of congressional hearings, where things could break down along party lines, though he said he'd be open to some such hearings if they are "bipartisan." In any case, this isn't over by a long-shot.
Update: Video from MSNBC, with David Shuster discussing the AP report prior to president Obama speaking.
Update 2: Video.