Thursday, November 08, 2007

Mukasey confirmed ...vote: 53-40...

From NBCSanDiego.com :

Breaking News...

WASHINGTON -- Former federal judge Michael Mukasey was confirmed as the nation's 81st attorney general Thursday night.

The Senate confirmed Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

But Mukasey's confirmation didn't come easily. He ran into sharp opposition after he refused to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.


Waterboarding, which simulates drowning, is banned by domestic law and international treaties. But those policies don't cover the use of the technique by CIA personnel, and the administration won't say whether it has allowed the agency's employees to use it against terror detainees.

Republicans were solidly behind President George W. Bush' nominee. Democrats said their votes were not so much for Mukasey as they were for restoring a leader to a Justice Department left adrift after Gonzales' resignation in September.

Mukasey was confirmed by a 53-40 vote.

Wrap...

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