Posted by Jonathan Adler:
AG Mukasey Says No Pardons Necessary:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_30-2008_12_06.shtml#1228404817
The NYT [1]reports that Attorney General Michael Mukasey does not
believe the Bush Administration needs to consider whether to pardon
officials who were involved with the development of interrogation
policies.
Mr. Mukasey, whose nomination as attorney general last year was
threatened by his refusal to say whether he considered
waterboarding to be torture, said the lawyers who authorized the
surveillance and interrogation programs had done so in the belief
that they were following the law.
�In those circumstances,� he said, �there is no occasion to
consider prosecution, and there is no occasion to consider pardon.�
�If the word goes out to the contrary,� he said, �then people are
going to get the message, which is that if you come up with an
answer that is not considered desirable in the future you might
face prosecution, and that creates an incentive not to give an
honest answer but to give an answer that may be acceptable in the
future. It also creates some incentive in people not to ask in the
first place.�
References
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/04justice.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
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