AG nominee won't say if waterboarding is torture
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Attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey left open the possibility that a controversial technique alleged to be used by CIA interrogators could be considered Constitutional, when he refused to say one way or another whether water boarding is torture.
During the second day of his Senate confirmation hearings, Mukasey was asked if he believed water boarding "was Constitutional."
"If water boarding is torture, torture is not constitutional," Mukasey said, claiming that he was not familiar with the specifics of the process.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called that answer a "massive hedge," and he explained the specifics of the practice -- strapping down a detainee and pouring water over his face to simulate drowning. He asked if that practice would be considered constitutional.
"If it amounts to torture it is not constitutional," is all Mukasey would say.
Whitehouse scolded Mukasey, saying he was "very disappointed" in his "very semantic answer."
"Sorry," Mukasey mumbled.
The former federal prosecutor and district court judge is expected to be easily confirmed, but he has seemed reticent to outline specifics on controversial administration programs such as detainee treatment, the prison at Guantanamo Bay and warrantless wiretapping.
Mukasey Endorses Expansive Presidential Authority
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Nominee Says Bush Entitled to Ignore Federal Surveillance Law
Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey suggested today that the president could ignore federal surveillance law if it infringes on his constitutional authority as commander in chief.
Under sharp questioning about the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Mukasey said there may be occasions when the president's wartime powers would supersede legal requirements to obtain a warrant to conduct wiretaps.
In such a case, Mukasey said, "the president is not putting somebody above the law; the president is putting somebody within the law. . . . The president doesn't stand above the law. But the law emphatically includes the Constitution."
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was "troubled by your answer. I see a loophole big enough to drive a truck through."
