Attorney General: Enemy combatants have constitutional right to challenge their detention

Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaking at the American Enterprise Institute [AEI] today called on Congress to act on detainees at Guantanamo Bay possibly trying to usurp the court system. Under the rules of habeas corpus, the 270 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions. The overriding issue facing the judicial system at the moment is when they are allowed to pursue legal action under habeas corpus. Mukasey called on Congress to draft legislation that would “act to resolve these difficult questions that have been left unanswered.”

Mukasey believes that under the modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] the next administration will have what they need to “get the job done,” said Mukasey. According to Mukasey, the passage and ultimate signature of the president on FISA “shows how our branches of government can work together.” But Mukasey was quick to reiterate the administrations support not only on FISA but on detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. “The United States has every right to detain enemy combatants who wish the United States harm,” said Mukasey.

Aiming more of his remarks at Congress Mukasey called on Congress to “reaffirm for the duration of the conflict [In Iraq and Afghanistan] the ability to detain enemy combatants.” Mukasey closed by saying that “Congress should make sure that the detainees cannot use other alternatives to challenge their detainment.”

Fight violence against women "as it travels", says Mukasey

A block away from the Potomac River at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Attorney General Michael Mukasey lauded the Office of Violence Against Women's (OVW) efforts to fight sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and domestic violence across the country at the second Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Regional Summit.

"Let me be clear. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is committed to fighting violence against women," Mukasey said.

According to Mukasey, since its founding in October 2003, the President's Family Justice Center Initiative has granted $20 million to 15 communities across the country for a pilot program that will develop and implement service and support for domestic violence victims. As an example, Mukasey described the center in New Orleans where victims can speak with police, lawyers, therapists, or councilors, as well as file court documents "under one roof."

The Domestic Violence Intervention Division in the Sheriff's Office of Prince George's County, Md., has received funding from the DOJ since 2004 through the Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grant program. With the funding, the sheriffls office has been able to establish a victim's advocate unit that runs 24/7 and specializes in domestic violence 911 calls.

OVW has helped find the best strategies for fighting violence against women and shared these strategies with communities across the country, Mukasey said. This is important because all women should feel safe in every corner of the U.S. Washington, D.C. can serve as a model for the rest of the country, Mukasey said.

Mukasey dodges bullets

Attorney General Michael Mukasey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice. Mukasey was questioned about past and present ‘politicization’ of the department, openness of the department with its findings, and controversial new criteria he has implemented for launching investigations into suspected terrorist activity.

A barrage of questions from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) proved ineffective. When asked by Schumer whether he would make records from certain cases from the Office of Professional Responsibility available to committee, Mukasey stated that it would depend on evidence. In response to his testimony, Schumer stated that he was very disappointed with the Attorney General’s answers. These sentiments were echoed by other members of the committee.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) criticized the Office of Legal Counsel’s actions, referring to it as ‘George Bush’s Shop of Legal Horrors'. He also called for Mukasey to learn from past mistakes in the deparment.

Mukasey was also questioned about new terrorist investigation criteria. These criteria would allow the department to access information on things like travel records and weapons possession. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WIS) addressed the issue, asking about the limits to which these criteria would go. Mukasey dismissed the questions as dealing with hypotheticals.

Code Pink demonstrates at the Senate Judiciary hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice

Attorney General Michael Mukasey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Chairman Patrick Leahy and the ranking member Arlen Specter presided. Also present were Senators Jon Kyl, Richard Durbin, Diane Feinstein, Joe Biden, Edward Kennedy, Orrin Hatch, Charles Schumer, Charles Grassley, John Sessions, Herb Kohl.

In his opening statement Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy said that the state of the Department of Justice has declined to the same state as the “dark days” following Watergate. He angrily emphasized torture, zooming in on waterboarding, “Tragically this administration has so twisted America’s role , law and values that our own State Department, our military officers, and apparently, Americas top law enforcement officer, are now instructed by the White House not to say that waterboarding is torture and illegal.”

Waterboarding and other interrogation techniques took center stage. Most of the first questions from each senator focused on that topic.

In his opening statement ranking member Arlen Specter said that Congress should endeavor to “define the parameters” of waterboarding. Specifically he said that Congress should hold hearings on whether “the CIA should be limited to the Army Field Manual.” He also made a brief reference to the contempt citations Congress is considering for White House Counsel Harriet Myers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten.

Mukasey read about a fourth of his opening statement focusing on future appointments of Justice officials and waterboarding. Mukasey said that because waterboarding is not currently authorized for use by the CIA and “may never be authorized,” he felt it was not right to comment on it’s legality until he was faced by concrete facts. In response to a question from Sen. John Sessions, Mukasey said that he is not authorized to speak about incidents that have happened in the past declining to comment on use of waterboarding by CIA agents in the past. He did say that the abuse of prisoners and use of waterboarding is not widespread.

Democratic members, specifically Edward Kennedy scolded Mukasey for refusing to comment on the legality or authorization of waterboarding. He asked bluntly, “would waterboarding be torture if it was done to you?”

Mukasey answered, “I would feel that it was.” And proceeded to deconstruct Kennedy’s reasoning, evading a straight answer. Later on he did say that certain techniques are clearly illegal such as maiming or raping a subject.

Mukasey said the the heinousness, or “shocking the conscience of the American people,” of certain interrogation techniques should be balanced against the value of the information to be gained by interrogation. Senator Joe Biden who had asked the question leading to this answer repeated the phrase “shocking the conscience” saying he had never heard anyone in the Justice Department approach the value of potential torture in that way.

The Department of Justice investigation into the destruction of tapes made of interrogations came up, but only briefly as Mukasey said he should not comment in depth about an ongoing investigation. The committee asked to be updated.

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley brought up a Department of Justice opposition to a Senate bill protecting whistleblowers with security clearance, allowing them to report wrongdoing while keeping classified information secret. Mukasey said that the Senate’s idea ignored a chain of command and left out the president.

Illegal immigration and crime prevention programs also came up. Mukasey said that deportation and prosecution of illegal immigrants depends on the specific challenges faced on the border.