Today, Mark Filip, the administration’s nominee to be Michael Mukasey’s deputy, had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And much like his future boss did during his hearing, Filip (like Mukasey, a former federal judge) treaded lightly, seeming deferential while also proving elusive on certain key questions. Here’s video:
When Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA ) asked whether waterboarding is torture, he punted, parroting Mukasey’s answer exactly. Like Mukasey, Filip called the practice “repugnant.” But stopped short, explaining that since Mukasey is conducting a review, he couldn’t “get out in front of him on that question.” He added: “if I am confirmed… I would view it like any other legal question and take a long hard look at it, and if I had a view other than his, I would tell him so.”
Kennedy responded that after what Mukasey went through at his hearing, “We thought you’d be able to give a response.”
When Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) pushed Filip on the Justice Department’s recent stance that Congress had to sit on its thumbs until the Department finished its probe of the CIA’s destruction of its torture tapes, he got pretty much the same result. To Specter, the issue is clear (see video below) that Congress has “pre-eminence over the Department of Justice on these investigations.”
Specter asked if Filip agreed. He dodged: “I would hope, Senator, that I don’t have to pick between the two.” Some sort of agreement could be worked out with Congress, he said. When Specter tried again, all he got was “I would work very hard to find common ground.”
The situation right now, to refresh your memory, is devoid of common ground. The Department has asked the CIA to refuse all Congressional requests until its probe wraps up.
But Specter said that he remains optimistic. He spoke with Mukasey the day before, he said, and hoped that conversation was just “the beginning” of more discussions.
Update: Here’s a letter Specter sent to Filip before the hearing laying out the oversight issue.
