O’Malley calls for special prosecutor on CIA interrogations

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is calling for a special prosecutor to reopen cases against CIA officials involved in controversial interrogations, a move to the left of his possible presidential rival Hillary Clinton. 

{mosads}“The United States does not torture and should not torture, and now that this report is out there I think there needs to be some greater accountability,” O’Malley told The New York Times. “I hope that the Justice Department might reconsider and appoint a special prosecutor.’’

Clinton, by far the undeclared Democratic front-runner, has not spoken out about the CIA’s actions since the release of the Senate report, which described tactics including waterboarding, sleep deprivation and rectal feeding, on Tuesday.

In a June discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton said supported the release of the report, but not prosecutions. 

“I didn’t want people to be criminally prosecuted, people who were doing what they were told to do, that there were legal opinions supporting what they were told to do, but I wanted transparency,” Clinton said. 

Liberals have long called for prosecutions for officials involved in the interrogation program.

There is no indication from the Obama administration that legal action will be pursued. White House press secretary Josh Earnest has referred questions to the Justice Department, saying it is a decision that should be made without political interference. 

“It’s my understanding that the Department of Justice actually did conduct a review of the actions of CIA operatives that are mentioned in this report, that there was a career federal prosecutor who was assigned to this case and that this individual conducted an extensive inquiry, and upon looking at the facts in evidence decided not to pursue an indictment,” Earnest said Wednesday. 

O’Malley has positioned himself to the left of Clinton, trying to take advantage of some liberals’ doubts on a range of issues as he prepares for a possible run. 

The governor strongly opposed sending back unaccompanied children at the border over the summer, and has spoken out against the Keystone oil pipeline, a matter on which Clinton has not taken a position.