Good Old Fashioned Blackmail

The GOP is playing hardball on killing all Congressional torture investigations:

At a hearing today with Attorney General Eric Holder, Republican members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee suggested that any potential criminal investigation into the CIA's harsh interrogation methods might not easily be contained.

Both Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Richard Shelby of Alabama pressed Holder on the CIA's "rendition" program that moved terrorism suspects from one country to another.

Didn't that happen during the Clinton administration?
Yes, Holder said.

"How many did you approve?" they asked.
Holder said he'd check the record.

The clear suggestion was, if any criminal investigation is opened, Republicans would push to get it expanded beyond events during the Bush administration. Alexander, for example, asked several times whether members of Congress, who were told about the interrogation methods, should also be investigated.

The warning is loud and clear. "If you pull the trigger on this, we will make sure Democrats suffer for this as much or more than the Republicans. You don't want this. Trust me."

This is what passes for rule of law if you're a Republican senator: threatening scorched earth tactics if you dare to lift the rotting log and shine a flashlight under there.