Murtha is untouchable -

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) cannot be sued for defamation or slander stemming from comments he made regarding the death of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005.

A Marine involved in that incident, Sgt. Frank Wuterich, sued Murtha for libel and defamation after the lawmaker said the civilian deaths were “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” in several public appearances.

Wuterich wanted to depose Murtha, and a federal judge initially backed Wuterich.

But the Bush Justice Department sided with Murtha, arguing that Murtha was acting within his official duties as a congressman when he made the Haditha comments and thus couldn’t be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act. That legislation protects government officials from legal action over official duties.

The Justice Dept. appealed the lower court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and that court sided with Murtha and the Justice Department Tuesday.

The appeals court stated that Wuterich “has not alleged any facts that even remotely suggest that Congressman Murtha was acting outside the scope of his employment when he spoke about the Haditha incident.”

The court added that Wuterich’s complaint was a “fishing expedition” that should not have been allowed to proceed even as far as it has.