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Democrats seek probe into Bush administration tactics

Students from John Carroll University in Cleveland and Loyola University in Chicago sit on Capitol Hill on Wednesday during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a truth commission. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)
Students from John Carroll University in Cleveland and Loyola University in Chicago sit on Capitol Hill on Wednesday during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a truth commission. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)
Larry Margasak Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Wednesday suggested Republicans should join their call for a nonpartisan “truth commission” to probe whether the Bush administration abused its power, or face partisan congressional investigations.

The GOP response: Forget it.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was supported in his commission proposal by a former career diplomat and a retired admiral. But he told a hearing he convened that if Republicans “remain absent or resistant, this opportunity can be lost.”

Leahy said the alternative was “accountability through more traditional means” – defined by Leahy’s aides as congressional hearings controlled by Democrats.

Both moderate and conservative Republicans made clear to Leahy, D-Vt., that they’ll take their chances with the alternatives to a truth commission.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ranking GOP member on the committee, said he opposes a truth commission because Democrats “can walk in the front door” of the Justice Department and “ask directions to the relevant filing cabinet.”

Specter has often criticized the former administration’s assertion of extraordinary powers to fight the war on terror, but he said the commission is unnecessary.

Specter is considered a moderate and a maverick. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, part of his party’s conservative wing, added: “The idea that this so-called truth commission would somehow resolve the good-faith disagreements … is just asking us to believe in the tooth fairy.” He said he’s willing to have Congress do the job itself.

The Justice Department is, in fact, opening the file drawers to make public secret Bush administration memos on counterterrorism.

The documents released Monday by the Justice Department showed the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply as the U.S. stepped up its response to terrorism.

Within two weeks of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, government lawyers were discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants, the documents showed.

The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held.

Leahy hasn’t yet introduced a bill that would show the composition of a commission. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers of Michigan, has introduced legislation for a similar commission.

“There should not be a focus on retribution or payback, and such an effort should not be used for partisan purposes,” said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., a supporter of the commission. He told Leahy, “That is why your proposal, Mr. Chairman, is so important. Your proposal is aimed at finding the truth, not settling scores.”