Can the Department of Justice Investigate Itself?
Under the current administration, OPR has been assigned to investigate and report on two huge controversies centering on the Department of Justice: legal opinions justifying the use of electronic surveillance and “enhanced interrogation” by NSA, CIA and others in the War on Terror, and the undue use of political criteria in Department personnel and prosecution decisions. As with any investigation by an internal office of a federal bureaucracy, there is suspicion that the investigators and the officials reviewing their findings might support their Department staff, especially when Department actions face external criticism. The resulting report then is suspiciously viewed as a defense excusing the actions. The specific circumstances heightened such suspicions, since the OPR reports to the Attorney General, in this case Alberto Gonzales, who was himself viewed by some as a co-conspirator.
