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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama to Pick Bush-Era Justice Dept. Official (James Comey)to Lead F.B.I.
WASHINGTON President Obama on Friday plans to announce the nomination of James B. Comey, a senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, to become the next director of the F.B.I., according to White House officials.
The Senate, which will not be in session in August, is bracing for a significant fight over nominations in July, and it is not clear whether the administration has allotted enough time for the Senate to confirm him by Sept. 3, when Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, is mandated to leave his post.
F.B.I. officials in Washington had expressed concern that if Mr. Obama did not nominate a new director by the beginning of June, the bureau would probably have an interim director for some time.
Mr. Comey is best known for his role in a 2004 incident in which, as the acting United States attorney general, he refused to acquiesce to aides to Mr. Bush, who wanted Mr. Comey to reauthorize a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/us/politics/obama-to-nominate-comey-as-fbi-director.html?_r=0
Catherina
(35,568 posts)May 30, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org
WASHINGTON Below is a statement from Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, on President Obama's reported plan to nominate James B. Comey as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"While the ACLU does not take official positions on nominations to appointed office, there are many questions regarding Comey's record that deserve careful scrutiny from the Senate Judiciary Committee. As the second-highest ranked Justice Department official under John Ashcroft, Comey approved some of the worst abuses committed by the Bush administration. Specifically, the publicly available evidence indicates Comey signed off on enhanced interrogation techniques that constitute torture, including waterboarding. He also oversaw the indefinite detention without charge or trial of an American citizen picked up in the United States and then held for years in a military brig. Although Comey, despite tremendous pressure from the Bush White House, deserves credit for courageously stopping the reauthorization of a secret National Security Agency program, he reportedly approved programs that struck at the very core of who we all are as Americans.
"It's critical that the Senate ensures that the men and women of the FBI know that they have a leader who will demand adherence to the rule of law and will hold those accountable who do not, wherever he or she may find them."
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-comment-possible-nomination-james-b-comey-fbi-director
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022925543
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022920529
In March 2004, Comey, Mueller, and several Bush DoJ appointees almost resigned over metadata!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023025949