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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Friday lifted a hold on the Bush administration’s pick for the No. 2 position at the Justice Department. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Mark Filip could be confirmed deputy attorney general within days. Durbin had blocked Filip’s confirmation over unrelated concerns about the Bush administration's use of waterboarding. Durbin wanted Attorney General Michael Mukasey to launch a criminal investigation into the controversial practice and promised to lift his hold on Filip only after his request was answered. Mukasey rejected the request on the grounds that CIA agents had relied on approval from the Justice Department. In a Friday letter to Mukasey, Durbin emphasized he was "disappointed" with Mukasey's answers, but would follow through on his promise. "I am disappointed in your response, but, as promised, I will lift my objection to the nomination of Judge Mark Filip to be Deputy Attorney General," Durbin wrote. The majority whip continued to press for an inquiry into the interrogation technique, however, calling for the Justice Department’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate the officials who authorized the technique by CIA agents. "CIA agents have been put in jeopardy by misguided counsel from the Justice Department, including legal opinions that the Administration has been forced to repudiate," Durbin wrote Mukasey. "Your refusal to review these opinions, much less investigate those who authorized waterboarding, places CIA agents at risk of receiving similarly flawed advice in the future." Leahy said he shares Durbin's concerns about Filip but does not believe the Justice Department will be pressed into an inquiry. He predicted Filip will win full Senate approval next week. "This administration has made very clear they don't want a Justice Department that's independent or straightforward," he said. Filip served as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and is a former federal prosecutor. |
