Mukasey Aligns with Goldsmith on Executive Power

That sound you hear from the Hart Senate Office Building is David Addington’s head exploding.

Michael Mukasey, responding to questioning from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), endorsed the memoir — and, implicitly, the legal perspective and bureaucratic predicament — of Jack Goldsmith, the former Office of Legal Counsel chief, who fought Addington and Alberto Gonzales on interrogations, detentions and surveillance policy. “I thought it was superb. I couldn’t put it down. In a way, I was sorry when it was finished,” Mukasey said.

Among the largest legal disagreements between Goldsmith and Addington centered around presidential authority. Addington argued that power is a zero-sum game, where congressional power necessarily encroaches on executive authority; Goldsmith found it an enhancement, generating consensus for presidential decisions. Mukasey placed himself squarely in Goldsmith’s camp. “I would certainly suggest going to Congress whenever we can. It always strengthens the hand of the president,” Mukasey said. “Unilateralism, across the board, is a bad idea.”