Cheney Lambasts CIA Probe, McCain Says Torture 'Harmed' Us

Aug. 30, 2009— -- On Sunday, former Vice President Dick Cheney attacked Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to open a probe into allegations of CIA detainee abuse, saying it was a political move that would jeopardize national security. Meanwhile this Sunday, senators debated the effect of Sen. Edward Kennedy's passing on health care reform.

"It's clearly a political move; I mean, there's no other rationale for why they're doing this," Cheney argued on "Fox News Sunday." "The fact is the Justice Department has already reviewed the inspector general's report five years ago, and now they're dragging it back up again ... supposedly to try to find some evidence of wrongdoing by CIA personnel."

Cheney said this move would hurt U.S. national security, because of the effect it would have on CIA personnel's willingness to undergo risky future CIA missions.

"If they're now going to be subject to being investigated and prosecuted by the next administration, nobody's going to sign up for those kinds of missions. It's a very, very devastating, I think, effect that it has on morale inside the intelligence community."

Cheney also said the Obama administration should ask the former Bush-Cheney administration for advice on national security, instead of investigating its decisions.

"I guess the other thing that offends the hell out of me is we had a track record now of eight years of defending the nation against any further mass casualty attacks from al Qaida," he said. "The approach of the Obama administration should be to come to those people who were involved in that policy and say, 'How did you do it? What were the keys to keeping this country safe over that period of time?'"