Republicans on the Senate Judiciary committee are delaying for up to a week a vote on Eric Holder’s nomination to be Attorney General, with some saying they want more time to consider his record on torture.
John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, told Politico:
Part of my concern relates to his statements at the hearing with regard to torture and what his intentions are toward our intelligence personnel who were operating in good faith based on their understanding of what the law was.
Holder declared last week at the hearing that “water-boarding is torture.”
It seems plausible that Cornyn’s and other GOPers’ concern might relate not just to intel personnel who carried out torture, but also to high-ranking Bush administration officials who ordered or approved it.
In a statement, committee chair Pat Leahy expressed his displeasure:
I am extremely disappointed, but they have that right, and this historic - historic - nomination is held over.