Senator Patrick Leahy made waves this month when he suggested that a "Truth Commission" should be formed to examine some policies of the Bush presidency. Leahy says some members of the Bush administration were willing to "trade away the people’s rights as if they were written in sand" in the name of national security. Congressional inquiries into potential abuses of power aren’t new, but critics question the value of the proceedings and often dismiss them as political theater. What could be gained from a Truth Commission on the Bush years, and what would Congress do with the information?
VPR’s Jane Lindholm talks with Middlebury College political science professor Matthew Dickinson about how commissions like the one Leahy proposes reflect the balance of power between two branches of government.