Holder ‘torture probe’ a sham and head fake?

The Washington Post mentions the details of what would — and would not — get investigated if Attorney General Eric Holder names a special prosecutor to investigate torture allegations against BushCo members — something Newsweek, in what looks more like a fluff piece, omitted.

(Hat tip to Greenwald, among others.)

Here’s the bottom line:

Sources said an inquiry would apply only to activities by interrogators, working in bad faith, that fell outside the "four corners" of the legal memos. . . . The actions of higher-level Bush policymakers are not under consideration for possible investigation.

So, this would be a bottom-feeder investigation, fishing up minnows while deliberately ignoring the sharks — and while pretending the minnows actually are sharks.

Per other links within his post, Greenwald notes that letting John Yoo’s opinion stand as final is essentially Nixonian: “If the president does it, it’s not illegal.” (Tim at Balloon Juice has more.)

Scott Horton claims Holder plans a real investigation, but his claim is undercut by the New York Times, which agrees in broad outline with the Post story linked at top.

Scott, like Glenn, is too smart to fall for sandbagging, at least I think he is, so I don’t know what’s up.

Anyway, to tie back to the Newsweek fluff, rather than this being a sign of Holder’s independence, you have to wonder if this was discussed in detail with the Obama White House.