“the Bush Justice Department “determined that the facts did not constitute a prosecutable violation of the criminal statutes”;”
Whew! It’s Bush’s Fault! Knewit.
It was pursued as a civil case. It’s parallel to what happens when a police dept. really fargs up and shoots someone they oughtn’t to in the middle of some kind of frantic action. Though everyone is outraged, it usually ends up getting treated as a tort, not a crime.