Prosecutor to probe alleged CIA abuse, source says

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department official says Attorney General Eric Holder has picked prosecutor John Durham to investigate CIA mistreatment of terror suspects.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to disclose the decision. Durham is already investigating the destruction of videotapes of CIA interrogations, and now will examine whether CIA officers or contractors broke laws in rough handling of suspects.

The decision comes as the Obama administration releases a newly unclassified CIA report detailing CIA treatment of terror suspects. The report says one interrogator threatened to kill the children of a Sept. 11 suspect, and another may have threatened to assault a suspect’s mother in front of him.

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