Justice Denied

There's no point recapitulating all the dispositive arguments about why people who torture other people should be punished instead of being given immunity. My question is, given that rule number one in Washington seems to be "the cover-up is worse than the crime," what happens in this case to those doing the covering up? To what extent do Mr. Obama, Mr. Holder, Mr. Panetta, and all the rest now face criminal complicity? Let's suppose that, as a direct result of official U.S. inaction, some foreign government decides to prosecute individuals from the previous administration. Might such prosecutions have new potential to bleed over into the current administration? And where would things stand in our own criminal justice system if its machinery were working properly? These are questions that won't easily fade away.