Michael Mukasey

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Broadwell's Computer Full of Classified Data: Insiders

Petraeus mistress, Jill Kelley lose security clearance

(Newser) - Paula Broadwell's computer was packed with classified material that should have been better safeguarded, officials tell Reuters . David Petraeus' former mistress had access to such information thanks to her position as a reserve officer in military intelligence, the sources say, noting that the amount of sensitive data calls for...

Mukasey Joins Liz Cheney Pile-On
Mukasey Joins Liz Cheney Pile-On

Mukasey Joins Liz Cheney Pile-On

Says no lawyer should be blamed for their clients' positions

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey today joined the chorus of conservatives and legal professionals decrying Liz Cheney’s “Al-Qaeda 7” attack ad, which portrayed Justice Department lawyers who’d once represented Guantanamo detainees as terrorist sympathizers. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal , the former attorney general argues that lawyers, from...

Detroit Bomber Should Be in Military Hands
 Detroit Bomber Should 
 Be in Military Hands
MICHAEL MUKASEY

Detroit Bomber Should Be in Military Hands

'We need to know what suspect knows'

(Newser) - The most alarming thing about the administration's unimpressive response to the Detroit terror incident was its failure to immediately hand the suspect over to the military, writes Michael Mukasey. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been treated like a valuable source of information instead of a mere criminal suspect, the former...

Bush AG: Court Terror Trials Too Dangerous

Challenges to security, secrecy would be 'overwhelming'

(Newser) - The Obama administration wants to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in federal courts—and that's a major mistake, says Michael Mukasey. Terrorism trials pose "overwhelming" security challenges, and classified information would have to be revealed, warns George Bush's relatively moderate third attorney general...

Mukasey: Now's No Time to Weaken Patriot Act
 Mukasey: Now's No Time
to Weaken Patriot Act
OPINION

Mukasey: Now's No Time to Weaken Patriot Act

Terror arrests show that national security needs trump privacy worries

(Newser) - The arrests last week of Najibullah Zazi and other terror suspects should make lawmakers think twice about making intelligence-gathering more difficult for those trying to keep America safe from terrorist attacks, writes Michael Mukasey. Congressional Democrats are considering imposing new requirements on Patriot Act provisions when they come up for...

Groups Move to Disbar Bush Lawyers Over Torture

Target Mukasey, Gonzalez, Ashcroft

(Newser) - A coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations is attempting to get a gaggle of Bush officials disbarred for sanctioning torture, the Legal Times reports. In complaints filed with five state bar associations today, the groups accuse ex-attorneys general Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzalez, and John Ashcroft—along with nine others—of violating...

Bush AG, CIA Chief Slam Obama on Torture Memos
Bush AG, CIA Chief Slam Obama on Torture Memos
OPINION

Bush AG, CIA Chief Slam Obama on Torture Memos

(Newser) - Barack Obama made a dangerous mistake in yesterday releasing Justice Department memos about interrogation techniques from 2005, say former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former CIA Director Michael Hayden. By releasing the details of these methods, Obama is eliminating a crucial intelligence tool—not just for his own administration but...

Holder: Waterboarding Is Torture

But supports FISA, Patriot Act

(Newser) - Eric Holder minced no words when asked about waterboarding in his confirmation hearing today. “Waterboarding is torture,” the AG-designate said, a declaration neither Michael Mukasey nor Alberto Gonzales was willing to make. He said that, even in emergencies, the president couldn’t override the constitution. Republicans also leapt...

Mukasey Steps Off Madoff Case

Rogue financier, meanwhile, placed under house arrest

(Newser) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey is recusing himself from the Bernard Madoff investigation because his son is representing an employee involved with the fraud case, Bloomberg reports. Mukasey also graduated from an Orthodox Jewish school where Madoff’s wife has taught and which placed $6 million in the fraudulent scheme. A...

Mukasey Released From Hospital

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey is out of the hospital with a clean bill of health after collapsing during a speech last night. The attorney general spent an "uneventful night" at the hospital and passed a battery of tests. Doctors have seen no indication that he suffered a stroke or heart attack,...

Mukasey Collapses During Speech
Mukasey
Collapses
During Speech
updated

Mukasey Collapses During Speech

Attorney general is 'conscious and alert' at DC hospital

(Newser) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech last night and was rushed to a hospital after briefly losing consciousness. He appears to be doing fine now. "The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert," said a Justice Department spokesman after doctors admitted Mukasey to George Washington University...

NYPD Clashes With Justice on Surveillance

Cops say feds blunt anti-terror efforts; AG testy in series of letters

(Newser) - The Department of Justice has firmly rejected efforts by the New York Police Department to relax restrictions on eavesdropping, triggering a war of words between the agencies’ heads, the New York Times reports. The NYPD wants broader latitude for electronic surveillance, and less red tape for its requests, but Justice...

Proof Mounts of Impropriety by Feds in Siegelman Case

US Attorney continued to guide case after recusing herself over GOP ties

(Newser) - New court documents call further into question the actions of Justice Department officials in their prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman on corruption charges, Time reports. With the Democrat’s appeal scheduled for next month, the House Judiciary Committee disclosed violations by the Bush-appointed US Attorney, Leura Canary, who...

Mukasey Taps Prosecutor for Attorney Firings Case

Conn. official Dannehy could force likes of Rove to testify

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor today to look into the attorney firing scandal today, Reuters reports, after an internal investigation came up empty-handed. Many top witnesses, such as Karl Rove, didn’t cooperate, but could now be subpoenaed by Connecticut prosecutor Nora Dannehy.

No Charges in US Attorney Firings: Report

Gonzales won't face grand jury from internal Justice investigation

(Newser) - A Justice Department probe of the firings of a group of US attorneys is ending without recommending charges against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or anyone else, the New York Times reports. The investigators' report, to be released today, is nonetheless said to be scathing on the politically motivated firings,...

Mukasey Steps Into Genital Mutilation Case

Citing further danger, AG gives woman second shot at asylum

(Newser) - In an extremely rare move, the US attorney general has stepped into a low-level immigration case and ordered that a victim of female genital mutilation be given another chance at asylum, CNN reports. AG Michael Mukasey slammed a previous decision that said the African woman had no reason to fear...

FBI Looks to Expand Powers of Investigation

Agency wants to open cases without reason for suspicion

(Newser) - The Department of Justice is aiming to relax restrictions on the FBI so agents can investigate people without any clear reason for suspicion, congressional Dems tell the New York Times. The plan, which may be revealed in September, has attracted concern, including a letter from four Democratic senators warning that...

No Charges for Biased Justice Officials: Mukasey

Former employees have already faced internal consequences, AG says

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey said today the ex-Justice Department employees who discriminated against candidates in hiring for political reasons will not face criminal charges, the New York Times reports. Prosecution would be inappropriate, the AG said, because the biased hiring practices violated federal civil service law, not criminal law.

Justice Dept. Hiring Practices Illegal: Report

Gonzales aides judged high-level applicants by their politics

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department illegally discriminated against applicants for career positions based on political considerations, a new report by the department's inspector general finds. Gonzales’ White House liaison Monica Goodling routinely violated civil service laws by asking "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to...

Mukasey Can't Reach Dems Across Gulf on Terror Law

Disgust, distrust on policy has attorney general's push falling on deaf ears

(Newser) - The refusal by Democrats to give Michael Mukasey a hearing during a Hill appearance yesterday is evidence of a “huge and poisonous gulf” between the legislative and executive branches that threatens to delay action on judicial process until 2009, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball write in Newsweek. The attorney...

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