WASHINGTON, 1 November 2007 — The nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general is increasingly under scrutiny, with Sen. Hillary Clinton joining other Democrats in opposing him and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee voicing disappointment with the retired federal judge’s latest refusal to denounce a specific interrogation technique as torture.
Mukasey, 66, whose nomination once seemed a near-certainty, has infuriated lawmakers in both parties with his reluctance to discuss the issue of water boarding, an interrogation method that involves simulated drowning.
On Tuesday, Mukasey wrote in a letter to the Judiciary Committee’s 10 Democrats that he remains unsure whether water boarding and other interrogation techniques are illegal.
“These techniques seem over the line or, on a personal basis, repugnant to me and would probably seem the same to many Americans,” Mukasey said.
“But hypotheticals are different from real life, and in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical,” and thus he would not offer a legal opinion on whether they constituted torture.
Mukasey was nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Alberto Gonzales, who resigned following an eight-month congressional investigation into allegations he politicized the Justice Department, but his confirmation hearings have taken a turn since his first appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 17.
David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and co-author of the recently-released “Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror,” said: “If the United States is to recover from the damage done by the Administration’s past dissembling on torture, we need an attorney general who can say, clearly and unequivocally, that water boarding is torture. This is elementary to the rest of the world, and until we recognize that, the United States’ reputation as a country that tolerates torture will continue.”
Mukasey’s resistance in clarifying his position on torture makes it more likely the Democrat-controlled Senate will be closely divided on his confirmation as attorney general.
Mukasey initially “had the nomination in the bag,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) told reporters in Washington Tuesday. That is no longer the case, and the responses he still must submit to written questions about torture will be “critical,” Leahy said.
In a statement released along with Mukasey’s letter, Leahy said he will consult with other members on the committee before scheduling a vote.
Leahy said he didn’t schedule one last week because the support for Mukasey “wasn’t there.” Democrats control the panel 10-9 and have a 51-49 margin in the full Senate.
Top Senate Democrats, including Harry Reid of Nevada, say their votes on Mukasey will hinge on his responses to their questions on torture.
Sen. Hillary and other Democratic presidential contenders Tuesday vowed to vote against Mukasey’s nomination since she felt he once again ducked the question of whether water boarding is torture and illegal.
