The White House is unlikely to grant sweeping pardons to former Bush administration officials who may have encouraged or enabled torture in approving harsh interrogation methods for terror suspects, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Some Republicans have been pushing for President Bush to grant the pardons before he leaves office. But White House officials point to opinions put out by the Justice Department that supported the administration’s methods, and say that pardons — which would no doubt draw fire from congressional Democrats and other administration critics — are unnecessary.
It’s unclear whether the incoming Obama administration intends to prosecute officials from the CIA, DOJ, and other government agencies who approved the harsh methods. A spokesperson for the Obama transition team told the Journal: “No decisions about interrogation issues will be made before the full national security and legal teams are in place.”
But some congressional Democrats, as well as liberal legal scholars, have called for such prosecutions, over activities including water-boarding and the NSA’s warantless wiretapping.