May 10, 2004

Goodman Calls for Appointment of Special Prosecutor

Lee Goodman, Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from the 10th district of Illinois, is calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. “It became clear from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s testimony last week that the military justice system is not the appropriate agency to investigate this problem. That system has a very limited scope. It exists to maintain military discipline. It is not capable of an independent examination of the sort that is needed in this situation,” said Goodman.

Goodman is a former prosecutor and served as chief investigator for a government anti-fraud agency. “There are strong indications that the improprieties here were encouraged and maybe even directed by officials at very high levels of government. There is also evidence that high-level officials sought to cover up the abuses. The only way to conduct a credible investigation is to appoint a special prosecutor who is completely independent of the administration.”

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