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Admin Prevents Former Gitmo Prosecutor from Testifying before Congress
When Col. Morris Davis stepped down as the Pentagon's chief war crimes prosecutor in October, the reason given seemed to be a somewhat bureaucratic one. He stepped down, it was reported, "in a dispute over whether Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, legal advisor to the administrator overseeing the trials, has the power to supervise aspects of the prosecution."
But in an op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times, Davis is crystal clear. "I felt that the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer do my job effectively or responsibly," he writes.
It's a taste of what he would have said had he been allowed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, during its hearing on the rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced at the beginning of the hearing that the committee had invited Davis to testify, but that "the Defense Department has ordered him not to appear."
Update: Here's video of Feinstein's comments:
"We assured the administration that Colonel Davis would not be asked about open and pending cases," Feinstein said. "But we were told simply that Colonel Davis was active duty military, and because he was active duty military, they could issue an order he had to follow." Calling it a shame, she added, "I wish the administration would allow him to appear. Unfortunately, I have to conclude that by prohibiting Col. Davis from testifying, the administration is trying to stop a fair and open discussion about the legal rights of detainees at Guantanamo."
In Davis' op-ed, he gives three reasons for his resignation, all deriving from a complaint that control of the military commissions at Gitmo had been taken from the military and given to political appointees. He targets Susan Crawford, who oversees the commissions, and William Haynes, the Pentagon's general counsel, in particular. The system was rigged, he complains, in order for the appointees to micro-manage the trials which they insisted take place behind closed doors, another decision he disagreed with.
And then there's the issue of torture:
Finally, I resigned because of two memos signed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England that placed the chief prosecutor -- that was me -- in a chain of command under Defense Department General Counsel William J. Haynes. Haynes was a controversial nominee for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, but his nomination died in January 2007, in part because of his role in authorizing the use of the aggressive interrogation techniques some call torture.I had instructed the prosecutors in September 2005 that we would not offer any evidence derived by waterboarding, one of the aggressive interrogation techniques the administration has sanctioned. Haynes and I have different perspectives and support different agendas, and the decision to give him command over the chief prosecutor's office, in my view, cast a shadow over the integrity of military commissions. I resigned a few hours after I was informed of Haynes' place in my chain of command.
Via ThinkProgress.
Comments (31)
Kathleen wrote on December 11, 2007 11:15 AM:More obstruction of Justice.
hope4usa wrote on December 11, 2007 11:18 AM:Where the hell is his subpoena? Does Congress have no authority at all? What is wrong with these people?
TheraP wrote on December 11, 2007 11:28 AM:A few patriots. He's one. Why is it so few?
jolly ranchero wrote on December 11, 2007 11:32 AM:My head just exploded. He cant testify under oath in front of Congress, but he can write op-eds in a major newspaper?
What the hell?
ralph489 wrote on December 11, 2007 11:40 AM:I have a legal question about this. I thought that congressional subpoenas were nearly inviolable legally. If Congress were to issue a subpoena, would that override the orders issued to the Colonel?
BigRed wrote on December 11, 2007 11:45 AM:TPM, please find out more about Susan Crawford and let your readers what you discover.
JA wrote on December 11, 2007 11:46 AM:"If Congress were to issue a subpoena, would that override the orders issued to the Colonel?"
david baerwald wrote on December 11, 2007 11:50 AM:You have to realize this is a Dem. congress, everyone ignores their subpoenas, and gets a sternly worded letter that is also ignored.
Feinstein considers it a "shame" that he's not allowed to testify. She "wishes" he would be allowed to speak. Right, and I wish I had a cold fusion engine. Crikey, what will it take to get our Congress to show some real muscle? What will it take?
dmbeaster wrote on December 11, 2007 11:55 AM:It seems clear he was not subpoenaed, as is often the case in such hearings involving administration figures. They are asked to testify and the administration agrees they may come. They can still issue the subpoena
the exile wrote on December 11, 2007 12:06 PM:He can't testify, but he gave a blockbuster interview on the Canadian CBC Radio show "The Current" this morning, and for some reason the Pentagon didn't stop him. Basically he accuses the Bush administration, mostly through the figure of then Pentagon Counsel William (?) Haynes, of ordering the Guantanamo Military Commissions to prosecute certain people at certain times for clearly political reasons. It's the Gonzalez DOJ scandal repeated yet again, this time in Pentagon. He talked about the plea bargain of the Australian Hicks being manipulated from the very top to help out John Howard, and other prosecutions being called for in September 2006 to influence the Midterm elections. He said he felt like Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, in other words a figurehead in a military suit, pretending to have some authority, when the real decisions were being made by political appointees with political objectives. I don't know if the CBC has this available online or as a podcast, but if they do, you DON'T want to miss it!
BobT wrote on December 11, 2007 12:08 PM:What happened to civilian control of the military? Oh, forgot. The Commander Guy is in charge. Never mind.
the exile wrote on December 11, 2007 12:12 PM:At least some of the CBC Morris interview is here (scroll down to "part 2"):
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2007/200712/20071211.html
SmileySam wrote on December 11, 2007 12:13 PM:It's important to understand it only took Davis a couple hrs to write and submit his resignation. Why ? Because he knew the history of Willam "Waterboard Willie" Haynes. Haynes helped write not only the Bybee Torture Memo, but many others in concert with Yoo. How can the person who wrote our current policy on Torture, that is illegal by the way, be trusted to exclude that same evidence ? He can't. It really is that simple.
Les wrote on December 11, 2007 12:23 PM:These discussions are rather silly.
Don't any of you understand that the country we knew as america is gone.
We had our chance, but we let it slip away.
Dave wrote on December 11, 2007 12:25 PM:For all intent and purposes the rule of law does not apply.
Those rules you use to be able to follow to inact change through elected representation now lay in shreds.
The only rule now is power.
There will be a ceremony January 1st 2008 at 1:00pm in front of the Lincoln memorial to symbolically and officially
lay america to rest.
It was fun while it lasted.
This is absolutely disgusting!
don de drain wrote on December 11, 2007 12:26 PM:My hearty congratulations to Col. Davis on his courageous actions. I hope that his actions will inspire others who have this kind of knowledge to speak out
the exile wrote on December 11, 2007 12:28 PM:In fact, the full CBC Morris interview from this morning is up on the Current's webpage, in a RealAudio file. I'm sorry I don't know how to paste links into comments, but cut and paste the url and go listen--you won't regret it.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2007/200712/20071211.html
Please respond wrote on December 11, 2007 12:41 PM:December 10, 2007
The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
We write on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee to request important information about the reported plans to cancel the upcoming 2008 presidential elections.
We also have some disturbing news of the "disappearance" of certain Democratic
candidates running for U.S senate in 2008.
Could you please get back to us at your convenience.
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
Chairman
ARLEN SPECTER
Ranking Member
Thank you for your (hoped for) prompt attention to this matter.
SocraticGadfly wrote on December 11, 2007 12:48 PM:Will Congress subpoena him? Or will it take six months to "negotiate" his appearance? You make the call.
Xenos wrote on December 11, 2007 12:53 PM:Ridiculous. Congress should not even subpoena Davis. Rather, Gates should be up for impeachment immediately - on the grounds of obstruction of justice.
If there is a direct challenge to the balance of powers, you either fight back or give it up, guys.
This is a slow motion coup d'etat. Democrats need to act like they want this war.
Anonymous wrote on December 11, 2007 12:54 PM:**** Susan Crawford is a former chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces, says various Google finds. Has worked as Inspector General for the Defense Dept....( interesting )
New England School of Law, 1977. Undergraduate degree in history 1069.
***** Hartmann is a reservist whose civilian job is chief counsel to the Connecticut-based Mxenergy Holdings Inc. – is actually Davis’ superior officer, and is “supposed to provide impartial advice” to Susan Crawford. According to the rules set up for the Commissions, his role is to “make an independent and informed appraisal of the charges and evidence,” to help Crawford “decide whether charges proposed by the prosecutors are sufficient to go to trial.”
***** William J. Haynes II, the Pentagon's general counsel, is a protégé of David Addington, who was involved in the development of the administration’s torture policies (aka “enhanced interrogation techniques”) in 2002 .
ralph489 wrote on December 11, 2007 1:55 PM:I have to say that I think Xenos is right. The Democrats are laying down. It may not be that this President is a dictator, and may not become one, but the destruction of the precedents of balance of powers, someone easily could. I think congress needs to be impeaching the President, VP, and others. Maybe Mukasey shouldn't be impeached yet, as he's the new guy.
Egypt Steve wrote on December 11, 2007 1:56 PM:Sigh. Another day, another outrage.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to "make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces." It's time for an explicit law that makes a Congressional subpoena superior to any order not to testify issued by any command authority, including the "commander in chief."
parrot wrote on December 11, 2007 2:08 PM:Cry for me, Argentina.
Alguien wrote on December 11, 2007 2:50 PM:parrot wrote on December 11, 2007 2:08 PM:
"Cry for me, Argentina."
...and Venezuela, and Brasil, and Chile, and Peru, and Bolivia, and Uruguay, and Ecuador, and Panama...!
Rodney wrote on December 11, 2007 4:07 PM:Very soon we'll be joining them under the collective "Banana Republics" denomination!
Somebody in the military gave the order that Davis could not appear before the comittee. That person should then be called to testify and explain the obstruction. And keep going up the chain if their are more orders to not appear.
Also, refuse to give the military a budget if they refuse to appear before Congress. Simple.
jleary wrote on December 11, 2007 4:26 PM:CBC Online:
Gitmo Prosecutor
When Colonel Morris Davis laid charges against Omar Khadr last February, he was a true believer. As the chief prosecutor at the U.S. military commissions, he was a vocal supporter of what his government was doing at Guantanamo Bay. In fact, when he wasn't prosecuting cases there, Colonel Morris traveled across the United States, preaching about the humane living conditions detainees enjoyed and the strong legal foundation of the commissions that would prosecute them.
But today, Colonel Morris is telling a different story. He is now the former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. He resigned to protest the undue political pressure he says he was feeling from the Pentagon. And he isn't alone. Colonel Morris is the latest in a growing line of military officials who have stepped down over concerns about how the United States is interrogating and prosecuting its so-called enemy combatants.
Colonel Morris Davis spoke to us from Washington.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/media/200712/20071211thecurrent_sec2.ram
Doug wrote on December 11, 2007 5:26 PM:Congress can issue a subpoena requiring the Colonel to show up. If the adminstration wishes to fight that they would have to go to court and argue that military personnel are members of the executive branch and thus the president can invoke "executive privilege".
Zolodoco wrote on December 11, 2007 8:24 PM:I don't think even the present courts would fall for that; especially since the Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to issue regulations for the military forces.
That's strange. I wasn't aware you could be ordered to not take questions from Congress. I wonder if that's really the case. Time to crack open the UCMJ and take a look at that.
rdpayne wrote on December 13, 2007 3:12 PM:As a military officer, he is commissioned by congress.
Why doesn't congress revoke his commission?
That should solve the active duty problem.
xynz wrote on December 13, 2007 7:58 PM:rdpayne:
Revoking his commission does not end his active duty. He'd become an active duty, NON-commissioned officer.