WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday said the Justice Department will follow the law wherever it leads in probing U.S. officials behind CIA interrogation policies.

His comments came a day after President Barack Obama opened the door to possible prosecutions of U.S. officials from the previous administration of George W. Bush who prepared the legal groundwork for the use of harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects, including waterboarding.

“We’re going to follow the evidence wherever it takes us, follow the law wherever that takes us,” Holder said to reporters at an Earth Day event. “No one is above the law,” he said, reiterating that the department had no intention to prosecute CIA interrogators who acted “in good faith” to follow official legal guidance.

This is completely insane.

The whole point is that the lawyers and advisors “prepared the legal groundwork” for harsh interrogation, meaning that they found strong legal footing for it. In other words, they were not breaking the law — or at least had well-reasoned legal opinion that someone who conducted a harsh interrogation wasn’t breaking the law.

If someone intentionally violated a clearly stated law, prosecute them.

But if someone writes a memo postulating that harsh interrogation does not count as torture and thus does not rise to the level of being illegal, on what basis could they possibly be prosecuted? That’s like arresting a Supreme Court judge for rendering an opinion you don’t agree with.

I think the Obama administration is about to bite off more than it can chew. It’s not like they’ll be hounding some ignorant yahoos who don’t know how to defend themselves. They’ll be charging some of the best legal specialists in the country, most of whom could run circles around a buffoon like Eric Holder.

If I was any of these charged lawyers, I’d say, “Bring it on, fools.”

Everyone knows that this case is pure political revenge, plain and simple. Obama’s hollow claims of “moving past partisanship” and “bringing people together” are ringing hollower every second.