Friday, November 09, 2007

Michael Mukasey Confirmed as US Attorney General

Michael B. Mukasey is the new U.S. Attorney General. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination yesterday by a vote of 53-40.

CNN reports:

After weeks of controversy over Michael Mukasey's views on waterboarding, the Senate late Thursday approved the former judge's nomination for attorney general by a 53-40 vote.

,,,President Bush nominated Mukasey to replace longtime ally Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in September.

The nomination had been considered at risk after a number of Democratic senators opposed Mukasey because of questions that arose from his views on the terror interrogation technique known as waterboarding and the president's power to order electronic surveillance.

Mukasey, a former federal judge in New York, told senators he considers waterboarding "repugnant," but he could not categorically say whether the technique amounts to torture, which U.S. and international law bans.

According to Wikipedia's biography of Mukasey:

...He for 18 years served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, six of those years as Chief Judge...

Mukasey has received several awards, most notably the Learned Hand Medal of the Federal Bar Council.


- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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