Mukasey To Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee

By Daniel W. Reilly

(The Politico)  Attorney General Michael Mukasey will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the end of the month, his first appearance before the committee since his nomination was cleared following a bruising fight over the controversial interrogation technique known as “waterboarding.”

Mukasey will appear on Jan. 30 at 10am.

The attorney general’s appearance will likely revive debate on the waterboarding issue after Mukasey refused to unequivocally state that the technique was a form of torture, which almost derailed his nomination.

In the end, however, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) threw his support behind the retired federal judge and Mukasey passed favorably out of the committee.

In addition, expect committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to grill Mukasey on the Justice Department's inquiry into the CIA's destruction of secret interrogation tapes, an issue Leahy is eager to probe into.