President

Updated September 20, 2009

Obama: No Plans to Ask Justice to Drop CIA Interrogation Probe

by  

AP

Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to put an end to the Justice Department's probe of CIA interrogations under the Bush administration. 

WASHINGTON -- President Obama says he has no plans to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. 

Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to do just that. In a letter to Obama on Friday, they warned that the probe could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to fight terrorism. 

Obama tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that he appreciates that the former CIA chiefs are wanting "to look after an institution that they helped to build." 

Obama says he wants to make sure that he's not somehow overruling the decisions of prosecutors such as Attorney General Eric Holder who are there to uphold the law.

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