Mukasey Refuses To Brief Congress On Legality Of CIA Torture Program

In December, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) asked Attorney General Mike Mukasey for his analysis of the legality of the CIA’s interrogation program. Yesterday, in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Mukasey said he believes the current CIA interrogation program is legal.

But in today’s hearing, Mukasey said he could not brief Congress on its legality. Mukasey said his views were embodied in classified letters which could not be disclosed. “Those letters are classified. … I think what you’ve asked me to do is to go and do something different than what’s in the letters, and I will not do that,” he said. Feingold continued:

FEINGOLD: You won’t come to Congress and explain your view of the legality of the details of program?

MUKASEY: The view that I have of the details of the program is embodied in classified letters, which I have reviewed and found to to comply with the law. They explain it. They explain it far beyond my ability to do it in a…session with Congress.

Watch it:

Mukasey claimed he would need “the authorities in hand” in a session to adequately brief Congress. But as Feingold explained, a classified setting before Congress would include this.

Feingold slammed Mukasey for contradicting the openness he portrayed in his confirmation hearings. “This seems somewhat unacceptable. … It is important for us to have more than just a one way conversation about this … I’d urge you to reconsider.”

Marty Lederman writes: “The scope and application of this federal law is so secret that not even the legislators who enacted it can be permitted to understand it. Short version: Congress can take a hike.”