Thursday, May 26, 2022

A bit of historical housekeeping on Eric Holder and the Do'J'

I had read years back that AG Eric Holder had ordered the Do'J' and its subsidiaries would henceforth record interviews with suspects/subjects.  My thought was 'About damned time.'

Then came the Pulse Nightclub terrorist attack. When the wife of the deceased terrorist was being tried the jury asked for a copy of the recording of an interview with her, because what she said didn't match up with the record from the FBI written account. They were informed that there was no recording, 'we don't do that'. Wound up being a key factor in her being acquitted.
When the Very Special Agent in charge of that mess was asked why no recording, answer was "It never would have occurred to us to do that."
"What the HELL?" thinks I, because Holder made that order in 2014. The Pulse attack was in 2016. So why the 'It never would have occurred to us' crap?

So I looked around, and found this from the Do'J' in 2014(link in first comment): "Following a collaborative and thorough review, Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday announced a new policy for the Department of Justice that creates a presumption that statements made by individuals in federal custody, following arrest but prior to their first appearance in court, will be electronically recorded. Attorney General Holder said that the new policy will help to ensure accountability and promote public confidence in the institutions and processes that guide the nation’s law enforcement efforts.

“Creating an electronic record will ensure that we have an objective account of key investigations and interactions with people who are held in federal custody,” Attorney General Holder said. “It will allow us to document that detained individuals are afforded their constitutionally-protected rights. And it will also provide federal law enforcement officials with a backstop, so that they have clear and indisputable records of important statements and confessions made by individuals who have been detained.”
...
According to the policy, prosecutors and agents are directed to use video recording to satisfy the presumption whenever possible. If video recording equipment considered suitable under agency policy is not available, audio equipment may be substituted. The policy applies broadly to all statements of persons in federal custody of the FBI, DEA, ATF or USMS after arrest, but prior to initial appearance. "

So: either this didn't count as "You Will Do This" to the clowns, or they ignored it.

And they wonder why people have been losing trust in them for years.

1 comment:

riverrider said...

like the whole matching a human hair to a person without a follicle on it. its been debunked by science for a decade but they keep on using it and ignorant judges keep allowing it. same for pet hair, can't be positively linked but people are in prison b/c an agent lied on the stand to say it. even after countless lab techs caught fudging the reports, they still believe the fbi wouldn't lie, lol.