Bush Again Urges Mukasey Approval
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Bush, worried about losing his fight to get Judge Michael Mukasey installed as attorney general, pleaded again today for confirmation despite the former judge’s refusal to be pinned down on the legality of waterboarding.
“He’s a good man. He’s a fair man. He’s an independent man, and he’s plenty qualified to be attorney general,” Mr. Bush said of Judge Mukasey, just after landing here.
A member of the Judiciary Committee who is backing the embattled judge, Senator Graham, joined Mr. Bush on a South Carolina airport tarmac for the presidential statement.
It was the second day in a row that Mr. Bush has pleaded with senators to approve the man he chose to succeed Alberto Gonzales as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
A day earlier, Mr. Bush warned that the Justice Department would go without a leader in a time of war if Democrats thwarted Judge Mukasey. The president was in South Carolina to help raise money for Mr. Graham’s re-election and make a speech about the war against terrorism.
Mr. Bush said yesterday that if the Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey because of his noncommittal stance on the legality of the interrogation procedure that simulates drowning, it would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general.
Mr. Graham’s public vow of support in the president’s company came as opposition continued to grow in the Senate.
Senator Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, yesterday became the fourth of 10 Democrats on the 19-member Judiciary Committee to declare he would vote against the former judge when the panel decides Tuesday whether to endorse or reject Judge Mukasey.
Mr. Kennedy said that Judge Mukasey’s unwillingness to equate the interrogation practice of waterboarding with torture increases the chances that it will be used against American troops.
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, planned to announce today in his state how he will vote next week.
There is a way for Judge Mukasey to get a full Senate vote even if committee Democrats are united in opposing him. The Senate Judiciary Committee could agree to advance the nomination with “no recommendation,” allowing Judge Mukasey the chance to be confirmed by a majority of the 100-member Senate. Several vote-counters in each party said Judge Mukasey probably would get 70 “yes” votes in such a scenario.