Senate committee approves Bush's attorney general pick

Nov 6, 2007, 20:50 GMT

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee (L to R) Dianne Feinstein of California, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and Charles Schumer of New York take part in a committee meeting on the nomination of Michael Mukasey, President George W. Bush\'s nominee for Attorney Genera, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC USA on 06 November 2007. The Committee voted to send the Mukasey nomination to the full Senate, where it is expected to pass. EPA/MATTHEW CAVANAUGH

Washington - A Senate committee on Tuesday approved US President George W Bush's nominee for US attorney general, easing fears that Michael Mukasey's approval could be stalled on concerns he had not taken a strong enough stance on interrogation methods opponents have dubbed torture.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Mukasey 11-8, sending the nomination on to the full Senate for a final vote, where he was expected to be confirmed.

Mukasey's nomination was initially welcomed by both Republicans and Democrats after the resignation of controversial attorney general Alberto Gonzales. But he later came under fire from Democrats over his refusal to say an interrogation technique known as waterboarding that stimulates drowning was torture, drawing speculation his nomination could be delayed or shot down.

The committee's chairman Senator Patrick Leahy and seven other Democrats voted against Mukasey.

'What we need most right now is an attorney general who believes and understands that there have to be limitations on executive power,' Leahy said, before voting against the nomination. 'America needs to be certain of the bedrock principles in our laws and our values and that no president and no American can by authorized to violate them.'

Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer joined their Republican colleagues in supporting Mukasey.

The White House welcomed the move.

'The Justice Department is crucial to both our law enforcement and national security missions. He would be a critical member of the national security team that the president oversees,' spokeswoman Dana Perino said. 'And we look forward to his vote in the full Senate.'

In addition to praising his record, Republican senators alleged the focus on waterboarding was an attempt to politicize the nomination.

'I don't believe waterboarding is the real issue,' Senator Orrin Hatch said.

'The real issue is politicizing the Justice Department. It politicizes the Justice Department to demand that Judge Mukasey take a politically correct position on waterboarding before he can go through a legally correct process to analyze the issue, especially since it is classified.'

If confirmed, Mukasey would replace Gonzales, a Bush confidant who quit in September after months of controversies including political motives in the firing of nine US attorneys, the veracity of Gonzeles' testimony to Congress and his work on torture policies as a White House lawyer before becoming attorney general. Gonzales played a key role as a White House lawyer in drafting policy for aggressive interrogations that critics call torture.

Mukasey, 66, presided as a federal judge in New York over several cases with national security implications, including the 1995 trial of 10 defendants in a plot to blow up New York landmarks. The so- called blind sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, a native Egyptian preacher and Islamic militant icon, was among those found guilty by the jury. He was sentenced by Mukasey to life in prison.

Mukasey also issued the first court ruling in a challenge of Bush's holding of illegal combatants after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Mukasey ruled that Jose Padilla, a US citizen, could be detained indefinitely without charge, but also granted him the right to speak with a lawyer.