Eric Holder is getting support for his decision to announce a criminal probe of torture from an unlikely source: Alberto Gonzales.
The former Attorney General told a radio interviewer for the Washington Times:
We worked very hard to establish ground rules and parameters about how to deal with terrorists. And if people go beyond that, I think it is legitimate to question and examine that conduct to ensure people are held accountable for their actions, even if it’s action in prosecuting the war on terror.
Holder has said that CIA personnel who stayed within the Justice Department’s legal guidelines will not be prosecuted.
Those people, said Gonzales, “are heroes and and should be treated like heroes for the most part, not criminals.”
Gonzo added: “As chief prosecutor of the United States, [Holder] should make the decision on his own, based on the facts, then inform the White House.”
Maybe he’s wishing he did more of that during his own tenure.