Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to President Bush’s nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General.

The Senator expressed many of the concerns that Fellows of and contributors to The Mighty Corrente Building have written about.

From the Senator’s letter to Mr. Mukasey:

The Attorney General who recently resigned apparently believed that the President has a commander-in-chief override of the laws of this country, which contributed to his violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), his signing statement reservations, and other overreaching. We must explore those topics. For example, do you believe that the President has authority to override legal requirements and immunize acts of torture contrary to our treaty obligations and laws? Do you believe that before Congress amended the FISA this summer, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed in the days following September 11, or Article II of the Constitution gave this President authority to override the requirements of that law with respect to wiretapping Americans?

In connection with these matters the Judiciary Committee has been seeking the historical legal analysis of the Department of Justice and this Administration. We have made numerous requests and have even had to subpoena the FISA documents. I want to know whether you will work with us and provide those materials so that we can examine the legal justifications that have been utilized by this Administration to excuse its conduct.

Well done Senator Leahy. Now follow through – please!

From the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey’s response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Questionaire, some interesting information:

Similarly, it is possible that the Heritage Foundation considers me to be a member based on a small monetary donation that I made to the Foundation.

Moreover, I made it a practice to recuse myself from, inter alia, any cases that were assigned to me if any party to the case was represented by my then former (and now current) law firm, Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, if I or anyone to whom I was immediately related might have a significant financial stake in the outcome, or if I had a significant relationship with a party. On the last ground, I recused myself from cases to which Mayor Giuliani was more than a nominal party in his official capacity as Mayor of New York.

I was involved in the campaign of Rudy Giuliani for President of the United States. Mr. Giuliani filed as a candidate for President in February 2007. From the beginning I have distributed information on his behalf and encouraged individuals to support his candidacy. From July to partway through September, 2007, I served as a member of his Justice Advisory Committee. I have not collected money on behalf of his campaign or hosted any fundraiser on behalf of his campaign.

No wonder Senator Leahy asked the following:

Another aspect of this concern is your close association with a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. Given that longstanding relationship, what assurances can you give the Committee, the Senate and the American people, should he be the Republican nominee, that you will not improperly use your position? The White House press operation suggested last weekend that you would recuse yourself from matters involving Mr. Guiliani. Is that true, and would that recusal include the Republican presidential campaign if he is the Republican nominee?

Regarding “executive privilege” Leahy asks:

Similarly, in light of the failure of the White House Counsel to provide even a privilege log to substantiate his blanket claim of executive privilege for all information relating to the U.S. Attorney firing scandal, we need to consider that matter together. I want to know your view of executive privilege. Do you view it as a communications privilege or something else? Do you think it extends to the actions and emails of political operatives in matters in which the President was not personally involved?

And the most important overarching statement by the good Senator:

We will need to explore with you how you would ensure the independence of federal law enforcement from political pressure, what steps you would take to restore morale at the Department and the public’s trust in the Department, and whether you would uphold constitutional checks on Executive power.

I love it.