The supreme court on Monday handed a victory to George W Bush’s attorney general, FBI chief and other officials, ruling they cannot be sued over the treatment of detainees, mainly Muslims, who were rounded up in New York after the September 11 attacks.
In a 4-2 decision with three justices not taking part, the court reversed a lower court decision that said the long-running suit could proceed against former attorney general John Ashcroft, former FBI director Robert Mueller and others. Mueller is now the special counsel investigating possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign team in the 2016 US presidential race.
The civil rights lawsuit sought to hold the former officials responsible for racial and religious profiling and abuse in detention that the plaintiffs said they endured after being swept up following the 2001 attacks by al-Qaida militants on the US. ...