Attorney General

Two Crooks Don't Make a Right

Christopher Brauchli | Posted 11.26.2008 | Politics


Christopher Brauchli

"Well, I am not a crook." Richard Nixon, October 17, 1973 No one has ever accused them of being quick learners but when it comes to rea...

A Bailout for Gonzales?

Jayne Lyn Stahl | Posted 11.23.2008 | Politics


Jayne Lyn Stahl

Prisons are hugely profitable these days which may explain why the U.S. now has the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world .

Holder As Attorney General Seen Likely To Escalate War On Drugs

HuffPost | Posted 11.21.2008 | Politics


There's been plenty of right-wing hand-wringing recently over fears that Barack Obama's election will bring about a new era of 1960s liberalism. Oba...

Holder Could Be GOP Target

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics


Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Eric Holder's sterling credentials are one thing, but politics is another. A political appointment to a top spot is generally a pro forma affair; it may be anything but that with Holder.

Eric Holder Is Change I Can Believe In

Stacy Parker Aab | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics


Stacy Parker Aab

Like many Americans of all colors, I have a healthy respect, if not outright fear of law enforcement. One can't always expect fairness in the criminal justice system.

Attorney General Mukasey Has Cost Taxpayers $155,800 For Private Trips

McClatchy Washington Bureau | Marisa Taylor | Posted 10.31.2008 | Politics


WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey has taken personal trips on government jets almost every weekend since he took office less than a year ...

Senate Democrats Subpoena Mukasey Over Detainees

AP | LAURIE KELLMAN | Posted 10.22.2008 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey for testimony and documents about the Justice Department's ...

Friday Talking Points [48] -- Throwing Out The Rulebook

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Back in Volume 36 of this Friday Talking Points column, I pointed out what seemed to me to be an obvious observation -- that the media was going a lot...

Alberto Gonzo Returns With A Lecture On Equality

The Carpetbagger Report | Posted 07.03.2008 | Politics


We haven't heard too much from Alberto Gonzales since he resigned in disgrace as Attorney General. He was last seen struggling to find a job in his pr...

A Call to Heroes: My "Sit-Down" With Vince Bugliosi

Linda Milazzo | Posted 06.23.2008 | Media


Linda Milazzo

Coming from Vincent Bugliosi, a man who has proven time and again that he has no fear, his threat it one that George Bush should take seriously. Vince will not back down.

America Is Stronger When America Sticks to Its Principles!

Eric Roberson | Posted 06.19.2008 | Politics


Eric Roberson

We are supposed to be a nation of respect for our constitutional framework. Just as we should not abandon our disdain for torture, we should not abandon the constitutional right to habeas corpus.

Telegraph: Obama To Pay Campaign Debt, Offer Cabinet Posts

Erin Medlicott | Posted 06.01.2008 | Home


Erin Medlicott

The U.K. Telegraph reports that Obama staffers are in discussions on when to pay off Clinton's campaign debt and are serious about offering her a place in the administration, perhaps as health secretary.

Friday Talking Points [21] -- Bash Bush Edition

Chris Weigant | Posted 02.29.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Happy Leap Day! Because we are given an extra day this year, I would like to spend it in a good old fashioned Bush-bash. Maybe it's because everyone'...

Would It Be Torture If It Was Done to You?

David Bromwich | Posted 02.03.2008 | Politics


David Bromwich

To prove himself a believer, Mukasey has gone some way to destroy his own reputation as a defender of the laws.

Obama and the Grumpy Old Men

Paul Jenkins | Posted 01.20.2008 | Politics


Paul Jenkins

Younger black activists and elected officials are unlikely to feel any loyalty to the Clintons, are engaged by a post-baby-boom candidate and feel more in sync with Obama on the issues.

Veteran Prosecutor Takes Over CIA Probe

Associated Press | Matt Apuzzo | Posted 01.03.2008 | Politics


For the high-profile, politically charged investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videos, the Justice Department is turning to a low-p...

Special Counsel Needed to Probe CIA Videotape Destruction

Joe Biden | Posted 12.20.2007 | Politics


Joe Biden

I do not make the call for a special counsel lightly. Seldom have the facts and circumstances surrounding an investigation made a more compelling case for appointment of a special counsel.

Friday Talking Points [Vol. 12]

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.14.2007 | Politics


Chris Weigant

The whole Obama flap over cocaine (fueled by the Clinton camp) needs to get shot down right away, before any Republicans consider using it to attack Obama. And it's so pathetically easy to shoot this one down.

Law Journal Names Alberto Gonzales "Lawyer Of The Year"

AP | LARA JAKES JORDAN | Posted 12.13.2007 | Politics


Negative news coverage might have cost Alberto Gonzales his job as attorney general, but it won him a dubious honor yesterday from a magazine publishe...

Friday Talking Points [Vol. 9]

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.09.2007 | Politics


Chris Weigant

It's been a week of ups and downs for Democrats. Mostly downs. While congressional Democrats still have yet to pass a single budget bill, they did fi...

A Devastating Failure

Gov. Bill Richardson | Posted 11.09.2007 | Politics


Gov. Bill Richardson

The Senate's confirmation of Michael Mukasey was a devastating failure of leadership, and a serious set back in our fight to take back America.

Clinton, Dodd, Biden, Obama Skip Mukasey Confirmation Vote

AP | LAURIE KELLMAN | Posted 11.09.2007 | Politics


Mukasey, 66, was the White House's first choice to replace Gonzales. Besides Schumer and Feinstein, Democrats voting to confirm Mukasey were: Sens. E...

Open Letter To Feinstein And Schumer

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.07.2007 | Politics


Chris Weigant

To Senators Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer;   When, in the future, you retire from the Senate and sit down to write your memoirs, I predict...

Mukasey Nomination May Face Senate Filibuster

Congressional Quarterly | Keith Perine and Seth Stern | Posted 11.07.2007 | Politics


Michael Mukasey appears headed for confirmation as attorney general before Thanksgiving, but Senate Democratic leaders are leaving open the possibilit...

ACLU Keeps Pressure on Mukasey to Call Waterboarding What It Is: Torture

Christopher E. Anders | Posted 11.05.2007 | Politics


Christopher E. Anders

Knowing the law is only part of the battle, is the bar really so low that the best we can hope for is an attorney general who makes private assurances that he is willing to follow law?