Mukasey dodges bullets

Attorney General Michael Mukasey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice. Mukasey was questioned about past and present ‘politicization’ of the department, openness of the department with its findings, and controversial new criteria he has implemented for launching investigations into suspected terrorist activity.

A barrage of questions from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) proved ineffective. When asked by Schumer whether he would make records from certain cases from the Office of Professional Responsibility available to committee, Mukasey stated that it would depend on evidence. In response to his testimony, Schumer stated that he was very disappointed with the Attorney General’s answers. These sentiments were echoed by other members of the committee.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) criticized the Office of Legal Counsel’s actions, referring to it as ‘George Bush’s Shop of Legal Horrors’. He also called for Mukasey to learn from past mistakes in the deparment.

Mukasey was also questioned about new terrorist investigation criteria. These criteria would allow the department to access information on things like travel records and weapons possession. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WIS) addressed the issue, asking about the limits to which these criteria would go. Mukasey dismissed the questions as dealing with hypotheticals.