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Mukasey: No Politics at DoJ
It's definitely one of Michael Mukasey's bottom line messages today: He's no Alberto when it comes to politicization.
When Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) asked him how he would ensure that politics plays no role at the Justice Department, he replied that any attempt by a "political person" to interfere with a case would be "cut and curtailed" and that whoever that person was would be promptly referred to the "very few people at the Justice Department" permitted to take calls from elected officials.
As to whether he might, say, try to fire a group of competent U.S. attorneys because they weren't "loyal Bushies" and try to replace them with loyalists, or make sure that career employees were also team players, Mukasey said that hiring in the department would be based solely on qualifications, "not whether they had an R or D next to their name."
And what would he do if such a firing of U.S. attorneys were going on? He'd "get in the middle of it very fast and stop it."
Comments (8)
steambomb wrote on October 17, 2007 11:46 AM:That is all well and good. But will he cooperate with oversight?
brantl wrote on October 17, 2007 12:11 PM:I wish I believed him.....
Cliff wrote on October 17, 2007 12:16 PM:I think I just got a woody.....
btchakir wrote on October 17, 2007 12:53 PM:Is this a ruse? Is it a Rovian setup to get majority support in Congress, then screw us over once again?
If only he were attached to a lie detector during this testimony.
Under The LobsterScope
Richard wrote on October 17, 2007 1:41 PM:Well its not often these guys give us a metric but this one just did.
"not whether they had an R or D next to their name."
Lets see how many D's get in there. My guess none and that D will matter plenty!
Deborah Marcano wrote on October 17, 2007 5:06 PM:I would like to know if the Cheney's Law on PBS Television of Tuesday night. October 16, 2007 can be purchased on
notmeanspirited wrote on October 17, 2007 8:12 PM:VHS, DVD.
Cheneys law is on PBS tonight (10-17)at
Richard Fox wrote on October 18, 2007 8:54 AM:9pm cst
When he says he would hire attorneys based solely on qualifications, "not whether they had an R or D next to their name," that's a red flag. It shows he's just promising anything to get confirmed. OF COURSE a Republican administration is going to hire mostly Republicans, that's not the issue. It's whether they will be permitted to do their jobs in a reasonably nonpartisan fashion.