The International Criminal Court's investigation into myriad US torture programs the world over has rested on the fact that the US government is not doing anything to punish any of those involved in the crimes. One civil lawsuit is continuing to slowly advance, however.

Dr. James E. Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, a pair of contracted psychologists, were hired by the Bush Administration to design and run the entire torture program. Mitchell has even written a book bragging of his involvement, and the fact that they both got medals from the CIA for their "services."

Their defense is built around the idea that they acted "with government permission" in committing these crimes, and seems to rest heavily on their ability to get the current government's support in suppressing classified evidence of all the sordid details.

While President Obama spent the last eight years admitting "we tortured some folks" and shirking responsibility for it, experts are saying is likely to rest on President-elect Donald Trump whether to claim "state secrets" to block this particular civil case from going any further.