Leahy Sets Confirmation Hearings for MukaseyIt’s official: the confirmation hearings for Michael Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general will begin next Wednesday, October 17. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) set the date today.
Leahy laid out the questions he’ll have for Mukasey in a letter last week, in which he also indicated that Mukasey’s confirmation will be considered separate from the administration’s refusal so far to turn over documents concerning its warrantless surveillance program. When Mukasey’s name was first announced by the president, Leahy said that his focus was on “securing the relevant information we need so we can proceed to schedule fair and thorough hearings.” Now those hearings will apparently go forward without that information. Or as Leahy put it last week to Mukasey, “they have left you to answer the unanswered questions.” We’ll see how that goes.
