Today's NY Times editorial has some good advice for the Senators on the Judiciary Committee. Today's hearing shouldn't be a love-fest. There are major, major problems facing our system of justice. Many of those serious issues were created by Alberto Gonzales and his boss, George Bush. Gonzales is gone, but that boss remains:
Alberto Gonzales left behind a Justice Department that is not worthy of the name. Prosecutions were launched to help Republican candidates win elections. Lawyers were hired for nonpolitical jobs based on their politics and their sworn loyalty to the White House. The department — which is supposed to defend the Constitution — cheered on the Bush administration’s unconstitutional tactics in the war on terror.
Mr. Mukasey has a good reputation as a lawyer and a judge. But that is not enough. The Senate needs to know what he intends to do to set the Justice Department right. Will he lead an investigation of the still-festering United States attorneys scandal? Will he cooperate with Congressional investigators, make documents available and seek to obtain testimony from Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, who have made baseless claims of executive privilege?
How will he ensure that his staff’s loyalty is to justice, not to the president’s political team — especially since many of the top lawyers are “loyal Bushies” hired by the old regime?
Mr. Mukasey should be asked what he thinks about holding detainees indefinitely in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and denying them habeas corpus rights. He should be made to explain which interrogation techniques he considers to be torture. He should be asked what he intends to do to end illegal domestic spying programs and whether he would turn over to Congress all of the documents relating to these policies.
Mukasey should be asked those questions. More importantly, he should answer all those questions. And, he must be held accountable.
Ha. I just said someone in the Bush administration should be held accountable. That's a good one.
