Michael Mukasey is now considered certain to be confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States after today's vote by the Judiciary Committee to send his name to the full Senate. The former judge has refused to say whether he thinks waterboarding is torture, but told New York Senator Chuck Schumer he would enforce a law against waterboarding if Congress passed one. That was good enough for Diane Feinstein of California, who joined fellow Democrat Schumer in providing the two deciding votes. Eight other Democrats voted no, insisting that waterboarding is torture and that Mukasey should declare it already illegal. Should a Medieval practice be classified as torture? Would that incriminate US officials all the way up to the White House? We talk to a Navy veteran who's been through it and taught it. Does it provide reliable information that could save innocent lives?
The Next Attorney General and Waterboarding
Credits
Guests:
- Malcolm Nance - Veteran counter-terrorism consultant
- Lee Casey - former staffer, Justice Department
- Scott Horton - Columbia Law School / Harper's - @ColumbiaLaw
- John Dean - Author, lecturer, columnist and CNN contributor - @JohnWDean