Attorney General Nominee’s Confirmation in Doubt Over Waterboarding Stance

All three serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee which will vote on Mukasey’s nomination on Tuesday. A party-line vote by the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee could block Mukasey’s nomination from reaching the Senate floor but the remaining Democrats on the Committee have declined to say how they will vote.

The controversy over Mukasey centers on his comments about the interrogation practice known as waterboarding which is widely considered a form of torture.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked Mukasey about waterboarding during the second day of his confirmation hearings on October 18.

• Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, questioned by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island on October 18.

Earlier this week Mukasey issued an additional written response about his views on waterboarding. Mukasey wrote that he feels the practice seems “over the line” and “repugnant” but he said that he does not have enough information to determine if it is illegal.

The New York Times reports Mukasey might be refusing to say waterboarding is illegal because it could open the door to criminal or civil liability for many CIA and military interrogators. Some legal experts suggested that liability could go all the way to President Bush if he explicitly authorized waterboarding.

On the campaign front, Senators Christopher Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama have all announced they will also vote against Mukasey when his nomination goes before the full Senate. Three Republicans on the Judiciary Committee -- Lindsey Graham, John McCain and John Warner have criticized Mukasey’s response but they have suggested they will support his nomination.

To talk more about the Mukasey nomination Marjorie Cohn joins me here in Washington.

• Marjorie Cohn. President of National Lawyers Guild and professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. She is the author of the new book ‘Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law.”