ldzppln
30 Oct 2007, 09:03 PM
Amazing.
Attorney General Nominee Sends Letter to Dems (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103001481.html?hpid=topnews)
Mukasey Refuses to Offer Waterboarding Opinion
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 30, 2007; 7:17 PM
Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey told Senate Democrats today that a kind of simulated drowning known as waterboarding is "repugnant," but he does not know whether the interrogation technique violates U.S. laws against torture.
Mukasey, whose nomination to replace Alberto R. Gonzales has become less certain because of his refusal to offer an opinion on waterboarding, also wrote in a letter to Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not know if U.S. interrogators had used waterboarding because he is not cleared to receive classified information.
But, in reiterating earlier promises to the committee, Mukasey pledged to study the issue if confirmed and to reverse any legal opinions by the Justice Department that violate the Constitution or U.S. law.
"If, after such a review, I determine that any technique is unlawful, I will not hesitate to so advise the president and will rescind or correct any legal opinion of the Department of Justice that supports the use of the technique," Mukasey wrote.
But by continuing to resist invitations to declare waterboarding illegal, Mukasey seems certain to heighten tensions between the administration and congressional Democrats, many of whom have said their votes hinge on whether the former federal judge agrees that waterboarding constitutes torture.
Every major Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate has announced that he or she will vote against Mukasey because of his position on waterboarding.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), the Democratic front-runner, said in a statement earlier today that "we cannot send a signal that the next attorney general in any way condones torture or believes that the president is unconstrained by law."
In testimony before the Judiciary panel on Oct. 18, Mukasey demurred when asked whether waterboarding constitutes torture and is therefore illegal. "I don't know what's involved in the technique," he said. "If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional."
The committee's 10 Democrats responded on Oct. 23 with a letter to Mukasey demanding that he answer the question directly and noting that the practice is well enough known that the State Department routinely condemns its use in other countries.
That letter stopped short of threatening opposition to Mukasey's nomination, but several leading Senate Democrats--including Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.)--have said that their vote depends on Mukasey's answer to the waterboarding question.
Yesterday, Leahy said in a statement that he will continue to delay a committee vote on Mukasey until the nominee answers other questions posed by lawmakers.
He also said he remained "very concerned that Judge Mukasey finds himself unable to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal and below the standards and values of the United States."
The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), also has written a letter to Mukasey demanding answers about waterboarding and other issues.
Other Republicans, however, have said that Mukasey had no connection to or knowledge of waterboarding and should not have to answer questions about it. A group of nine Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee today issued a press release urging the Senate to confirm Mukasey and "stop playing politics with the Justice Department."
Waterboarding generally involves strapping a prisoner to a board, covering his face or mouth with a cloth and pouring water over his face to create the sensation of drowning, according to human rights groups. The practice dates at least to the Spanish Inquisition, and has been prosecuted as torture in U.S. military courts since the Spanish-American War.
Officials have said the Bush administration authorized the use of waterboarding on at least three prisoners kept in secret detention by the CIA after the Justice Department said it was legal. The practice was halted in 2005, sources have said.
Attorney General Nominee Sends Letter to Dems (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103001481.html?hpid=topnews)
Mukasey Refuses to Offer Waterboarding Opinion
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 30, 2007; 7:17 PM
Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey told Senate Democrats today that a kind of simulated drowning known as waterboarding is "repugnant," but he does not know whether the interrogation technique violates U.S. laws against torture.
Mukasey, whose nomination to replace Alberto R. Gonzales has become less certain because of his refusal to offer an opinion on waterboarding, also wrote in a letter to Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not know if U.S. interrogators had used waterboarding because he is not cleared to receive classified information.
But, in reiterating earlier promises to the committee, Mukasey pledged to study the issue if confirmed and to reverse any legal opinions by the Justice Department that violate the Constitution or U.S. law.
"If, after such a review, I determine that any technique is unlawful, I will not hesitate to so advise the president and will rescind or correct any legal opinion of the Department of Justice that supports the use of the technique," Mukasey wrote.
But by continuing to resist invitations to declare waterboarding illegal, Mukasey seems certain to heighten tensions between the administration and congressional Democrats, many of whom have said their votes hinge on whether the former federal judge agrees that waterboarding constitutes torture.
Every major Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate has announced that he or she will vote against Mukasey because of his position on waterboarding.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), the Democratic front-runner, said in a statement earlier today that "we cannot send a signal that the next attorney general in any way condones torture or believes that the president is unconstrained by law."
In testimony before the Judiciary panel on Oct. 18, Mukasey demurred when asked whether waterboarding constitutes torture and is therefore illegal. "I don't know what's involved in the technique," he said. "If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional."
The committee's 10 Democrats responded on Oct. 23 with a letter to Mukasey demanding that he answer the question directly and noting that the practice is well enough known that the State Department routinely condemns its use in other countries.
That letter stopped short of threatening opposition to Mukasey's nomination, but several leading Senate Democrats--including Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.)--have said that their vote depends on Mukasey's answer to the waterboarding question.
Yesterday, Leahy said in a statement that he will continue to delay a committee vote on Mukasey until the nominee answers other questions posed by lawmakers.
He also said he remained "very concerned that Judge Mukasey finds himself unable to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal and below the standards and values of the United States."
The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), also has written a letter to Mukasey demanding answers about waterboarding and other issues.
Other Republicans, however, have said that Mukasey had no connection to or knowledge of waterboarding and should not have to answer questions about it. A group of nine Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee today issued a press release urging the Senate to confirm Mukasey and "stop playing politics with the Justice Department."
Waterboarding generally involves strapping a prisoner to a board, covering his face or mouth with a cloth and pouring water over his face to create the sensation of drowning, according to human rights groups. The practice dates at least to the Spanish Inquisition, and has been prosecuted as torture in U.S. military courts since the Spanish-American War.
Officials have said the Bush administration authorized the use of waterboarding on at least three prisoners kept in secret detention by the CIA after the Justice Department said it was legal. The practice was halted in 2005, sources have said.