Friday Afternoon Erosion Of Democracy Dump

Michael Mukasey has revealed his true colors about who he works for.

Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-PA) sent Attorney General Michael Mukasey a detailed list of questions about the Justice Department's knowledge of the CIA's torture tapes' destruction. What did DoJ officials know about the tapes while they existed? When did they learn they were to be destroyed? What communications did they have with the White House about it? [...]

Today, Mukasey gave his reply: no. The Department "has a long-standing policy of declining to provide non-public information about pending matters," he wrote, in order to avoid "any perception that our law enforcement decisions are subject to political influence. Accordingly, I will not at this time provide further information in response to your letter, but appreciate the Committee's interests in this matter." You can read that letter here.

He went even further with the House, telling CIA officials not to cooperate with the House investigation, including John Rizzo and Jose Rodriguez, who were the prime movers in the destruction of the torture tapes. Mukasey is just another hack, working for Fourthbranch Cheney (who apparently still thinks he exists in a fourth branch of government, by the way). He wants to have the Justice Department investigate itself, again, and claim that there will be any impartiality in the matter.

And to top it off, Senate Republicans, who incidentally love torture, have said so out loud:

Senate Republicans blocked a bill Friday that would restrict the interrogation methods the CIA can use against terrorism suspects.

The legislation, part of a measure authorizing the government's intelligence activities for 2008, had been approved a day earlier by the House and sent to the Senate for what was supposed to be final action. The bill would require the CIA to adhere to the Army's field manual on interrogation, which bans waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods.

By the way, they're doing this on Parliamentary grounds, saying that the rider was improperly inserted into the bill. Well, Republicans oughta know. That's all they did while in the majority.

I'm going to turn into water and slink down the drain now...