John Dean: Prosecute Cheney

By Scott Horton

Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, John Dean, makes the case for prosecuting Dick Cheney for his role in torturing prisoners in the war on terror in an appearance on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He correctly flags an aggravating circumstance: not only does Cheney demonstrate no contrition for his criminal acts, but yesterday he went out of his way to assert that torture was the right thing to do—he was boasting about his crimes. Dean notes that because some of the criminal charges that could be brought against Cheney are subject to an eight-year statute of limitations, it is important that a prosecutor be given the task of assembling the case immediately.