Today, Attorney General Mukasey will testify before the House Judiciary Committee. In conjunction with that hearing, AFJ has released a report card analyzing the progress, or lack thereof, Mr. Mukasey has made in his first three months at the Department of Justice. Here are some questions we’d like to see posed to Mr. Mukasey after his disappointing performance in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week:
· On FISA: Your opening statement to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary demanded legislation that would immunize telephone companies against liability for cooperation with the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. Why should we not trust our federal courts to adjudicate the conduct and good (or bad) faith of these companies?
· On Torture: You have refused to state clearly whether waterboarding is torture and hence prohibited by United States law. In part, you have based this refusal on a desire to avoid “tipping off” our enemies. Doesn’t your statement that waterboarding is not “currently authorized for use in the CIA program” tip off our enemies in exactly this way?
· On Politicization: As you know, Inspector General Fine is undertaking an investigation into the dismissal of United States Attorneys and other allegations of politicization in your Department. Are any former or current employees of the Justice Department refusing to cooperate in that investigation and, if so, what are their names?
· On Rebuilding the Department: Can you tell us why there are sixteen districts that have acting or interim United States Attorneys, instead of Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorneys, and still have no nominee from President Bush?
Watch the hearing live or check back later on Justice Watch to see if these questions were answered.
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