Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to forgo prosecution of the government lawyers who advised CIA interrogators to use coercive tactics to draw information out of detainees.
In a letter to Obama signed by Sens. Linsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the three conceded that some of the legal advice provided to interrogators was “deeply flawed,” but to prosecute the officials “would have a deeply chilling effect on the ability of lawyers in the administration to provide their client – the U.S. Government – with the best legal advice.”
Earlier in the day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., offered a less forgiving view. Pelosi, speaking to reporters at an event sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, said the government should not provide blanket immunity over how prisoners were treated. She also called for the formation of a “truth commission into what happened and why legal opinion was so one-sided.”
Obama has already indicated that the interrogators would not be subjected to prosecution because they were acting on advice from the Attorney General’s office.
