By Jason Leopold

Democrats have been slow to react to the steady stream of reports and documents released since January that show the Bush administration adopted a policy of torture in defiance of international treaties and federal laws.

But on Wednesday, a day after journalist Mark Danner posted a February 2007 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that said the treatment of 14 “high-value” detainees in U.S. custody “amounted to torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” one powerful Democratic lawmaker said it’s time the Justice Department launch an investigation into the matter.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said “if there are egregious violations of law they should be prosecuted.”

Schumer’s comments were in response to a question by Maddow on whether the senator would support a Senate Judiciary Committee led investigation into the Bush administration’s torture policies. His response indicates that he does not back an effort by committee chairman Patrick Leahy to look into Bus administration’s abuses via a bipartisan “truth commission.”

Schumer is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Leahy said last week in a floor statement that his proposal, which has received lukewarm support from Democrats, “would be to find the truth – to provide accountability for the past. Not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments.”

Schumer told Maddow that in his view “the most logical and best place to start is the Justice Department.”

“They [the Justice Department] haven’t said whether they were going to do it or not. In fairness to them they are just beginning to get staffed up. If they won’t do it someone else is going to have to do it. But they should be given the first crack.

“I have some faith in [Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration," Schumer said. "President Obama said he doesn't want to spend all his time looking back. Fair enough. But he has also said egregious violations should be prosecuted."

In fact, the ICRC report recommended, "U.S. authorities investigate all allegations of ill-treatment and take steps to punish the perpetrators, where appropriate, and to prevent such abuses from happening again."

"The ICRC wishes to remind the US authorities that international law absolutely prohibits [cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment] and torture,” the report said. The ICRC’s responsibilities involve ensuring compliance with the Geneva Conventions and supervising the treatment of prisoners of war and the organization’s findings carry legal weight.

Schumer’s office would not say Wednesday whether the senator intends to formally call on the Justice Department to investigate the abuses detailed in the ICRC report. And it’s unknown whether any other Democratic lawmaker has contacted the Justice Department to formally request an investigation. But there is certainly renewed pressure on Congress to press the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to undertake a criminal inquiry.

Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers again called for a special prosecutor to conduct a criminal inquiry into the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” including whether “enhanced interrogation techniques” used on alleged terrorist detainees violated international and federal laws against torture.

Conyers said the Obama administration needs to follow in the footsteps of a magistrate in Spain who has authorized prosecutors there to investigate possible war crimes by six Bush administration officials who helped create the framework for the torture policies.

“I have noted press reports describing the criminal investigation being carried out by Judge Garzon of Spain,” Conyers said. “In the apparent absence of any independent criminal investigation of torture allegations being carried out in the U.S., and considering our obligations under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, I understand this step by a serious and respected jurist. In the end, however, it is America’s obligation to police its own compliance with U.S. and international law.”

However, did not resubmit his formal request for a special prosecutor that he made last year when he and 55 other House Democrats signed a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Not unexpectedly, Mukasey – a staunch defender of Bush’s theories about expansive presidential powers – ignored the letter.