Spring Break
An Error in Judgment
Attorney General Mukasey may have warranted closer scrutiny
Jason Anton '10, Capitol Hill Columnist
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Opinion
Let's face it: Alberto Gonzalez was far from popular when he resigned last year. Scandal after scandal, most notably his assent to torture at Gitmo and his role in partisan judge firings, rendered Gonzalez's exit a welcome and accepted inevitability.
Fresh from his resignation and enticed by the prospect of an ally in the Justice Department, Senate Democrats entered the debate over Gonzalez's successor with enthusiasm. Senator Leahy (D-VT), chair of the judiciary committee, declared that the new nominee could and must "begin the repair process" and restore faith in the legal system. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in his zeal, went so far as to sell one nominee to his own constituency. In an Op-Ed in the New York Times, Schumer defended his choice, trusting one man not only to "likely…find…that waterboarding and other techniques are illegal," a sticking point for Senate Democrats, but also more generally to "turn…the department around". Schumer's "chosen one" was a well-known New York District Court Judge, Michael Mukasey.
Amid promises of independence and efficiency, Congress approved Mukasey (albeit barely - it was by the slimmest of margins in over 50 years), and he was sworn in on November 7. Three months later, what praise can we offer the Attorney General thus far?
Very little.
Not only has Mukasey continued to refuse to admit that waterboarding constitutes torture (surely to Schumer's chagrin), but he has also, in a series of snubs, alienated nearly all of his initial Democratic supporters. In his few months in power, Mukasey has violated the bounds of an independent justice department by advocating for administration-supported retroactive immunity for phone-companies that assisted in wiretapping. He has overstepped Congress by actively denying necessary information to Capitol Hill about the Justice Department's investigation of the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes. He has almost entirely ignored Gonzalez's controversial judge firing scandal, claiming that all has been "cleaned up" in his department. He has made it clear, via public pronouncements and early behavior, that he is prepared to sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of national security in nearly all cases - an unfortunate core principle of our current government.
Considering the circumstances, Senate Democrats really seem to have missed the boat. After years of disrespect for the legal system, public and political pressure had finally forced a shift in the upper echelons of government. Democrats were given one of only a few opportunities to correct the course of the nation and really stick it to the Bush administration, and instead they nominated its cheerleader.
Fresh from his resignation and enticed by the prospect of an ally in the Justice Department, Senate Democrats entered the debate over Gonzalez's successor with enthusiasm. Senator Leahy (D-VT), chair of the judiciary committee, declared that the new nominee could and must "begin the repair process" and restore faith in the legal system. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in his zeal, went so far as to sell one nominee to his own constituency. In an Op-Ed in the New York Times, Schumer defended his choice, trusting one man not only to "likely…find…that waterboarding and other techniques are illegal," a sticking point for Senate Democrats, but also more generally to "turn…the department around". Schumer's "chosen one" was a well-known New York District Court Judge, Michael Mukasey.
Amid promises of independence and efficiency, Congress approved Mukasey (albeit barely - it was by the slimmest of margins in over 50 years), and he was sworn in on November 7. Three months later, what praise can we offer the Attorney General thus far?
Very little.
Not only has Mukasey continued to refuse to admit that waterboarding constitutes torture (surely to Schumer's chagrin), but he has also, in a series of snubs, alienated nearly all of his initial Democratic supporters. In his few months in power, Mukasey has violated the bounds of an independent justice department by advocating for administration-supported retroactive immunity for phone-companies that assisted in wiretapping. He has overstepped Congress by actively denying necessary information to Capitol Hill about the Justice Department's investigation of the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes. He has almost entirely ignored Gonzalez's controversial judge firing scandal, claiming that all has been "cleaned up" in his department. He has made it clear, via public pronouncements and early behavior, that he is prepared to sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of national security in nearly all cases - an unfortunate core principle of our current government.
Considering the circumstances, Senate Democrats really seem to have missed the boat. After years of disrespect for the legal system, public and political pressure had finally forced a shift in the upper echelons of government. Democrats were given one of only a few opportunities to correct the course of the nation and really stick it to the Bush administration, and instead they nominated its cheerleader.
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