Senate Dems secure assurances from Mukasey

Key Senate Democrats said Thursday that Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey had assured them that he would limit contacts between the Justice Department and the White House to halt any political meddling with ongoing investigations.

The assurances were the latest indication that Democrats are comfortable that Mukasey’s tenure at the Justice Department would not mirror the tumultuous reign of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

{mosads}Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that when he met with Mukasey earlier this week, he asked the nominee what he would do if his staff and the White House were discussing ongoing investigations.

According to Leahy, Mukasey said, if a Justice Department official “continues to discuss a case with someone outside, whether it’s the White House, or members of Congress or someone else like that, they will be fired.”

“That’s the kind of attitude I like,” Leahy said.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who sits on the panel and has been one of the most outspoken critics of Gonzales, echoed Leahy’s remarks.

Still, Democrats and the White House signaled Thursday they were no closer to reaching an accord on documents sought by the Judiciary Committee to shine light on the administration’s domestic spying program and its firing of federal prosecutors. Democrats say those documents are crucial for Mukasey’s confirmation process, but the White House wants that investigation and consideration of the nomination to go on separate tracks.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is also on the committee, said that at this point it is still unclear what the prospects are for Mukasey to win Senate confirmation.

“I believe we need to be careful in meeting our responsibility to have a hearing that addresses a lot of the issues that have been raised by the Gonzales tenure,” said Durbin, who met with Mukasey on Wednesday.

 Gonzales’s tenure at the Justice Department came under withering criticism from Democrats who said he had turned an independent agency into a political arm of the White House. One of their chief concerns was that White House aides had regularly contacted Justice Department staff, sparking questions that prosecutors were targeting cases based on political concerns.

“We do not have to merely imagine the threat to the independence of law enforcement arising from those communications,” Leahy said.
Even as Mukasey promised Democrats that such communications would not occur, senators said those assurances need to be written into law to ensure future attorneys general keep their distance from the White House.

On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee approved a bipartisan bill by a 13-2 vote to limit communications between the Justice Department and the White House regarding ongoing civil and criminal investigations. The bill, sponsored by freshman Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, would require the department and the White House to submit semiannual reports to Congress on the names and titles of officials who communicated with one another regarding such investigations.

 Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.), who along with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) voted against the measure, said Democrats were reacting to the political news of the day and the legislation could create new problems. He reiterated concerns from the Justice Department that the semiannual reports that would be required by the bill could actually lead to leaks of classified information and undermine investigations.

“All of us have the tendency over the year to legislate based upon the immediate political circumstance and sometimes are less considerate of potential future problems — especially when politics are reversed,” Kyl said.