What flows from Kabul, the experts say, is permission for unfettered extraction, protection in case of prosecution and punishment in case the official opposes the system or gets out of line.
In exchange for providing the Bush administration with pseudoscientific license to torture, Mitchell and Jessen were paid over $1 million each, and given a $5 million indemnity agreement to cover legal costs in case of prosecution.
In a report to Congress in October, the Justice Department acknowledged the low yield from what it always considered to be long-shot efforts to develop cases worthy of prosecution.
But, believe me, we have many more cases of illegal prosecution in our country".
The municipal authorities who would have to pay Mr. Mikhailov immediately appealed to Switzerland's highest court, arguing that the award exceeded the legal limit of $5,500 for cases of wrongful prosecution.
The review generated two criminal investigations, but Department officials "ultimately declined those cases for prosecution" because of insufficient evidence, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This isn't a rogue prosecution in the technical sense but it is a case of selective prosecution.
In some cases, any possibility of prosecution was eliminated because so much time had elapsed.
Former Senator John Edwards faces a fourth day of uncertainty as the jury continues to deliberate in the case of his prosecution for campaign finance fraud.
It's another case of "overzealous prosecution of the people who were trying to expose fraud, waste, abuse [and] illegality," she said.
