Attorney General

April 14, 2008 -- (Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., and Subcommittee Chairmen Jerrold Nadler (D-NY, Constitution Subcommittee) and Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA, Crime Subcommittee) sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey demanding that he provide answers, not public relations spin, to disturbing revelations about pre-9/11 intelligence failures and subsequent civil liberties abuses.    » read more »

March 3, 2008 -- "Today we continue the process of rebuilding the integrity and independence of the Justice Department by confirming the nomination of Mark R. Filip to be the new Deputy Attorney General, the number two position at the Department of Justice, who acts as the Attorney General in the absence of the Attorney General.    » read more »

Discuss Cooperative Efforts to Promote the Rule of Law Throughout Iraq

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008, BAGHDAD — U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey today traveled to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi and U.S. officials involved in ongoing efforts to establish the rule of law in Iraq. In addition to participating in meetings with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, the Attorney General met with some of the more than 200 Department of Justice personnel who are currently serving in the U.S. Mission in Iraq.    » read more »

February 5, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement in response to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence threatening a veto of the FISA bill.

“This most recent veto threat by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence reveals the shamelessness of the Administration’s approach to FISA reform.

The President has repeatedly said that Americans lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not make major changes to FISA.    » read more »

United States Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

January 30, 2008 -- "Attorney General Mukasey, thank you for appearing today. I want to raise two subjects, waterboarding and voting rights.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and nine Senate colleagues sent the following letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking him to clarify his positions on waterboarding and other interrogation techniques.    » read more »

- Attorneys General Praise MySpace Safety Efforts and Call for Broad Adoption
- Endeavor to Include New Protections for Teens and Tools for Parents

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2007 -- The following are prepared remarks of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey at the American Bar Association National Security Law Breakfast:

Thank you Stewart for that introduction. It's a pleasure to be here with you today. I want to talk to you this morning about the need to put in place--permanently--the national security tools that we use for the war on terror--and in particular, about the need to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or "FISA" as it's commonly called.    » read more »

November 14, 2007 -- THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Good morning. I'm pleased to be back here at the Department of Justice, and to join you for the swearing-in of Judge Michael Mukasey as the 81st Attorney General of the United States. We welcome Michael's wife, Susan, their children, Marc and Jessica, their son-in-law Corey, their grandchildren, William and Benjamin, and other members of the Mukasey family. We share their pride in Michael on this important day. And I appreciate you all coming to witness it.    » read more »

November 13, 2007 -- DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued the following joint statement after the Senate confirmed Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General of the United States:

"As Attorney General, Michael Mukasey has a lot of work to do in the months ahead to repair the Justice Department's reputation.

For years, Bush Republicans have politicized the Department of Justice and waged an outright war on the right to vote by promoting restrictive voter ID laws, overzealous and inappropriate voter purging, and voter intimidation tactics.    » read more »

November 09, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today sent the following letter to newly confirmed Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

The text of the letter read:

We are pleased that the Senate voted to confirm you last night as Attorney General of the United States. As you take office, we strongly urge you to immediately receive briefings on the CIA interrogation program and to publicly declare that the technique known as “waterboarding” is illegal.    » read more »

November 8, 2007 -- This debate has boiled down to a discussion of principles that are as vital to American ideals and to the American soul as is the fleeting issue of who will act as the Attorney General for the next 14 months. During the Judiciary Committee’s consideration of this nomination earlier this week, Senators Kennedy, Kohl, Feingold, Durbin, Cardin, Whitehouse and I made clear the fallacy that would disregard settled law and discredit America’s role in the struggle for liberty and human dignity.    » read more »

November 9, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced on the Senate floor his opposition to the nomination of Attorney General nominee Judge Michael Mukasey. Among other reasons, Harkin was most disappointed with Mukasey’s refusal to denounce torturous practices such as waterboarding and electric shocks, and his failure to recommend closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility – even though Republican officials like former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have agreed it should be shut down.    » read more »

November 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC-Following his vote to oppose the nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement:

“Judge Mukasey is an honorable man who possesses the experience and ability to serve as Attorney General. But I question his ability to be the strong, independent leader that is required now at the Justice Department. He is the nominee of an administration which has too often put politics and ideology ahead of principle and the rule of law.    » read more »

(As Prepared for Delivery)

November 9, 2007 -- "Mr. President, the Department of Justice is in a state of crisis. Under Attorney General Gonzales, it too often served as a rubber stamp for the White House and as a pawn for political gain, rather than as the nation’s guardian of the rule of law. It ignored the law and authorized torture and warrantless surveillance. It let politics drive decisions about who should be prosecuted. It fired U.S. Attorneys who would not go along.    » read more »