Posted on 05/24/2003 10:49:01 AM PDT by Joy Angela
Judiciary panel OKs appeals court choice
Partisan `hackles' lacking at hearing
WASHINGTON --
The Senate Judiciary Committee, serious and humorous by turns,
approved Michael Chertoff's nomination to an appeals court Thursday
after a late allegation and debate that ranged all
the way to a disgraced New York Times reporter
and McCarthyism.
On the good-natured side, a smiling Sen. Charles
Schumer D-N.Y., said across the committee table at one
point to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "Lucky for you
there aren't two of me."
Hatch, the committee chairman who is as conservative as
Schumer is liberal, smiled back as he
, "It's a great blessing for the country."
Chertoff, the head of the criminal division at the
Justice Department and a former federal prosecutor
in New Jersey, was nominated to a seat on the 3rd
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
And while the Judiciary Committee has been the setting
for several fierce battles over President
Bush's judicial nominees in recent months, his
appointment hasn't been one of them.
The appointment "doesn't raise hackles" among senators
who have helped filibuster two of Bush's appeals
court nominees so far, Schumer said at one point.
But on the eve of a scheduled vote, Judicial Watch, a
conservative group, circulated letters to lawmakers alleging
it had "important evidence concerning the misuse of organized
crime operatives by the FBI" and other agencies.
During the time of the alleged illegal activity, the letter said, Chertoff
was U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
Democrats, in particular, pressed Hatch to hold up
committee approval of the nomination until a review
of the charges could be made. "I don't see holding
him up for an unsubstantiated allegation," said
Hatch
Additionally, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., raised
issue of a former Justice Department lawyer
suspected of leaking internal documents relating to
the propriety of an FBI interrogation of John Walker
Lindh. Lindh is the so-called "American
Taliban" who pleaded guilty last July to supplying
services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive
during commission of a felony.
Kennedy won a one-week delay in Chertoff's confirmation
last week, saying he was dissatisfied
with Chertoff's answers to questions about the
case.
The New York Times published an article during the day
about the attorney, Jesselyn Radack. In a reference to
Chertoff, Hatch said, "It's disgraceful that at this
last minute The New York Times is attempting to impugn anybody."
Moments later, Hatch noted that the author of the
article had "shared bylines with the infamous Mr.
Blair."
That was a reference to Jayson Blair, a reporter who
resigned from the Times on May 1 after the
newspaper found fraud, plagiarism and inaccuracies
in three dozen of his articles.
Hatch's remark sent a buzz through the committee room,
and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. broke in, "Before we
get into McCarthyism here." That was a reference to
the technique of guilt by association that Sen. Joseph
McCarthy used 50 years ago in his communist witch hunts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.