Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
June 25, 2008
Pg. 2
A congressional subcommittee voted Tuesday to subpoena an adviser to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the Bush administration's interrogation policies toward terror detainees.
Douglas J. Feith, former undersecretary of defense for policy, had agreed to testify but changed his mind hours before he was to appear last week at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
Mr. Feith is believed to have been instrumental in drafting government interrogation policies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, policies that critics say led to torture.
His attorney said Mr. Feith changed his mind when he learned that Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, an aide to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, would also testify.
The lawyer, John Moustakas, wrote the committee that Col. Wilkerson has made defamatory comments about Mr. Feith, calling him stupid and a "card-carrying member of the Likud party" and more loyal to Israel than the United States.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat and the subcommittee chairman, said he had never seen a witness behave as Mr. Feith did.
"One witness' dislike for another witness cannot become a reason not to provide critical testimony to Congress," Mr. Nadler said.
June 25, 2008
Pg. 2
A congressional subcommittee voted Tuesday to subpoena an adviser to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the Bush administration's interrogation policies toward terror detainees.
Douglas J. Feith, former undersecretary of defense for policy, had agreed to testify but changed his mind hours before he was to appear last week at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
Mr. Feith is believed to have been instrumental in drafting government interrogation policies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, policies that critics say led to torture.
His attorney said Mr. Feith changed his mind when he learned that Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, an aide to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, would also testify.
The lawyer, John Moustakas, wrote the committee that Col. Wilkerson has made defamatory comments about Mr. Feith, calling him stupid and a "card-carrying member of the Likud party" and more loyal to Israel than the United States.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat and the subcommittee chairman, said he had never seen a witness behave as Mr. Feith did.
"One witness' dislike for another witness cannot become a reason not to provide critical testimony to Congress," Mr. Nadler said.