By Paul Kiel, TPM Muckraker
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the man who will preside over Michael Mukasey’s confirmation hearing, signals hard that Mukasey‘s not going anywhere until the committee gets the information it’s been seeking on the U.S. attorney firings and the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. A statement just out:
“The Judiciary Committee will approach consideration of the nomination of an Attorney General in a serious and deliberate fashion. The Administration took months determining that a change in leadership was needed at the Department of Justice and then the President spent several weeks before making a nomination. Our focus now will be on securing the relevant information we need so we can proceed to schedule fair and thorough hearings. Cooperation from the White House will be essential in determining that schedule.”
“The next Attorney General needs to be someone who can begin the process of restoring the Department of Justice to its proper mission. I am hopeful that once we obtain the information we need and we have had the opportunity to consider the nomination, we will be able to make progress in this regard.”
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