Mukasey Condemns Torture
Updated: Michael Mukasey pledged today to make decisions independent of political considerations and repudiated a controversial torture memo as his confirmation hearing for attorney general got underway.
“Legal decisions and the progress of cases are decided by facts and law, not by interests and motives,” Mukasey said in prepared remarks reported by Reuters.
Mukasey said the president did not have the authority to permit the use of torture against terrorism suspects in violation of the law, the Washington Post reports. A 2002 Justice Department memo that made assertions to the contrary was “a mistake,” he said.
The memo, written by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, said the president had the authority to order torture techniques that violated the Geneva Conventions and international and U.S. laws.
Mukasey went on to condemn torture on moral grounds, the New York Times reports. “We don’t torture—not simply because it’s against this or that law or against this or that treaty,” he said. “It is not what this country is about. It is not what this country stands for. It’s antithetical to everything this country stands for.”
Mukasey had pledges of support from key senators who want more independence in the Justice Department before today’s hearing began, ABAJournal.com noted in an earlier post.
Story updated at 12:22 PM.
