By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has tapped the Senate Intelligence Committee to lead the congressional review of the Bush administration’s harsh interrogation policies.

When that review nails down factual information about how interrogations were handled, with a public report expected by the end of the year, then an outside commission could be organized.

“Until we get that information, I think we would all be better off just relaxing, understanding how difficult this is,” said Reid, D-Nev. “Justice must be served. Retribution should not be part of what we’re talking about.”

The decision differs from the approach urged separately by Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy , D-Vt., and Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin , D-Mich., for independent commissions or counsels to conduct an investigation.

Reid said information about the program is spotty and must be confirmed. For example, he said, disputes are about much more than just waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics.

“I’m not opposed to what Sen. Leahy has talked about, what Sen. Levin has talked about, and what outside groups had talked about,” Reid said. “But we have to get the facts before we decide which direction to go.”

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said the Intelligence Committee is aggressively pursuing the issue.

“There is a lot of information out here. Some of it has been destroyed. We know that. Some of it has been concealed,” Durbin said. “I think it is in our best interest — if we are going to do this sensibly, prudently — to wait until Sen. Feinstein completes this investigation. I know she is going to do it in a conscientious and professional way.”

Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif.., defended her turf, saying the Intelligence panel, not the Judiciary Committee, has jurisdiction over the issue and was the proper group to probe the matter.

“We are the committee that really deals with the classified information, has the ethical, professional staff and are really equipped to do it,” she said.

Feinstein called the proposal for an independent commission “the easy way out that deals with a lot of rhetoric.”

“It’s not necessarily the right way,” she said, adding that she has not spoken to Leahy this week about the issue.

– Kathleen Hunter contributed to this story.