Mukasey mum on torture techniques

It may just be me, but does an AG have to be congenial or honest?

Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey refused to say Thursday whether he considers waterboarding a form of torture, frustrating Democrats and potentially slowing his confirmation to head the Justice Department.

In an increasingly testy second day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mukasey also said he is reluctant to support legislation protecting reporters from being forced by courts to reveal their sources. The Democratic-led panel has approved those protections, which President Bush has threatened to veto.

Mukasey, a retired federal judge who has ruled in some of the nation's highest-profile terror trials, repeatedly avoided discussing the legality of specific interrogation techniques — including forced nudity, mock executions and simulated drowning known as waterboarding.

To comment would be irresponsible "when there are people who are using coercive techniques and who are being authorized to use coercive techniques," Mukasey said.

"And for me to say something that is going to put their careers or freedom at risk simply because I want to be congenial — I don't think it would be responsible of me to do that," Mukasey said.

About the picture, does that look like how you want to spend the next few hours? Just asking.

Via Yahoo! News.