Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) rebuked panel ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) today for demanding a hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder, saying that one was already in the works.
Patrick Leahy
Shortly after today’s release of a letter from the Attorney General in defense of the Justice Department’s handling of the alleged Christmas Day bomber, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans announced that they were urging Leahy to call the Attorney General to testify before the committee. Read their letter here.
Conservative senators have been critical of the decision to charge the alleged bomber criminally rather than put him in military custody for interrogation. Senators have sent numerous letters to Attorney General condemning the decision to treat alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a civilian, instead of as an enemy combatant. Read our previous reports on three of the letters here, here and here.
Jeff Sessions (Getty Images)
“We have been asking the Attorney General questions on behalf of the American people,” Sessions said in a statement. “He has not simply shut us out; he has also shut out the public. We need to find out what policies are in place for the handling of the next terrorist captured on American soil, and what determines whether current or future terrorists in our custody will receive civilian treatment.”
Within an hour of the Republicans’ request, Leahy announced that he has been working with the Justice Department to schedule an oversight hearing with Holder since early last month. The panel chairman said in a letter addressed to “Jeff” that the hearing should be in March.
“Had you discussed this matter with me, you might have realized that such a partisan and divisive letter was unnecessary and unhelpful,” Leahy wrote in the letter. “I hope that in the weeks and months ahead, instead of trying to create division and score political points, you and the other Republican members of the Committee will join with me and work with the administration on behalf of the American people, as we did after the 9/11 attacks.”
