Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the former GOP presidential nominee who has been highly critical of the Bush administration's interrogation practices, agreed that a special prosecutor should not be appointed.
"We all know that bad things were done. We all know that the operatives who did it, most likely, were under orders to do so," McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "For us to continue this and harm our image throughout the world, I agree with the president of the United States: It's time to move forward and not go back."
President Obama has said he would not seek to punish CIA interrogators but would leave it up to the attorney general to decide whether to prosecute those who developed the policies.
Among Democrats speaking Sunday, Durbin voiced the most unequivocal support for a special prosecutor.
"We don't want the attorney general to be afraid to ask questions when it comes to violations of the law," he said. "Those who followed the law, followed their directions [and] did it appropriately . . . shouldn't be prosecuted. But those who went beyond it, those who broke the law, need to be held accountable. No one is above the law."
Other Democrats continued to advocate different kinds of investigations. Feinstein favored the intelligence committee's review of the interrogation of the so-called high-value detainees once held by the CIA.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the judiciary committee, said a special prosecutor could make it difficult to establish an independent panel to investigate allegations of wrongdoing during the Bush administration.
An independent commission would work only if some witnesses were given immunity, which could hamper a special prosecutor's investigation, Leahy said. He added that he would not interfere if Holder were to appoint a prosecutor, but he worried that such an investigation would target only low-level interrogators and ignore senior policymakers.
"I just don't want to see an instance where, if the higher-ups gave the order to break the law, that the ones who get punished are the people basically on the front line, the lower-level troops," Leahy said.
Some human rights groups praised Holder for considering appointing a prosecutor. Jameel Jaffer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, said publicly available evidence showed that the Bush administration violated domestic and international law by authorizing torture.
"It is time to finally confront the gross human rights abuses of the last administration," Jaffer said in a statement. "Initiating a criminal investigation is a crucial step toward restoring the moral authority of the United States abroad and restoring the rule of law at home."
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julian.barnes@latimes.com
Greg Miller of the Washington bureau contributed to this report.
