From The Politico
By Ryan Grim

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has his counsel with him, seated to his right, indicating he intends to go as far as he legally can in getting at the question of whether Attorney General Michael Mukasey believes that waterboarding — which Conyers calls an “odious practice” in his opening statement — is torture. He also wants to know if a criminal investigation will be launched to punish those agents who utilized the practice.

Mukasey, though, didn’t mention waterboarding in his opening statement.

Conyers immediately follows up with a question on whether Mukasey will pursue the criminal investigation.

“No, I am not,” he says. “That would put in question not only that opinion [that justified waterboarding as legal], but any other opinion from the Justice Department.”

Conyers and Mukasey then went back and forth about access to that opinion, with Mukasey claiming it’s classified and Conyers replying that members of the committee are cleared to have access to classified documents. A call for votes sent the hearing into recess.

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