Added: Apr 23, 2008
From: ForaTv
Duration: 7:22
Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/03/27/U_S__Attorney_General_Michael_Mukasey U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey explains why he supports legal immunity for telecommunications companies who disclosed customer information to the federal government following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. ----- Public Corruption and Public Confidence with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Mukasey took over leadership of the Department of Justice after a time of great turmoil and controversy. Coming in with support from both sides of the aisle, Mukasey has made it a priority to address issues of public corruption and the integrity of our government institutions. - The Commonwealth Club of California Michael Mukasey was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941 and graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to becoming Attorney General, he had a lengthy career as an attorney, including service as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1976 in New York. From 1975 to 1976 he also served as chief of his district's Official Corruption Unit. From 1976 to 1987 he was an associate, and then member, of the firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. Mukasey was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and served until 2006, the last six years as chief judge. During that time, Judge Mukasey presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 co-defendants charged with conspiring to blow up numerous sites in New York. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was widely praised for the speed with which the federal courthouse, located just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, returned to normal operation. Upon his retirement from the bench, Mukasey returned to Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, in the firm's litigation group. Judge Mukasey has received numerous awards over the years, including the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence from the Federal Bar Council, the William Tendy Award from the Fiske Association, awards from the Seymour Association, the Respect for Law Alliance, and the Ari Halberstam Award from the Jewish Children's Museum. He also received an honorary degree from the Brooklyn Law School. Mukasey's professional and civic activities have included service as a director of the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation and as a director of the Jewish Children's Museum. He has also been a lecturer in law at the Columbia Law School. He was a member of the Automation and Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States; was chairman of the Committee on Public Access to Information and Proceedings of the New York State Bar Association; was a member of the Federal Courts Committee and the Communications Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and was a member of the American Bar Association. Judge Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush on September 17, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8. He entered duty on November 9.
Channel: News
Tags: bush customers foratv government laws legal privacy prosecution rights sue telecoms terrorism terrorists wiretapping
Rating: 5.00 (3 ratings) Views: 385 Comments: 8
culverapex Says:
Apr 23, 2008 - @ runswithscissorsalot. Yeah, I was just going to say the exact same thing. This idea that the "telecoms" wont cooperate because they might get sued is rediculous because we have a Warrant system that will compell them to hand over information. Not only that, but they're being sued because they allowed DOMESTIC spying on law abiding AMERICANS. Mukasey just lost points in my camp.
neotoy Says:
Apr 23, 2008 - Jesus, what a goddamn stooge. If the spying was illegal, shouldn't the president take the fall? That's the only reason this jackass would be arguing for telcom immunity, not because it's unfair, but because it would uncover vital evidence needed to convict members of the Bush admin. of breaking US law.
subzeromind Says:
Apr 23, 2008 - He was a stooge the minute he became connected to the current administration.
subzeromind Says:
Apr 23, 2008 - "yes I support immunity for the telecoms" You will go down in history as a fascist my friend, good work. People look at where the money comes from. Look at the contributions the Telecom industry has made to the current administration in the past. Follow the money trail and you'll realize that everything he is saying is pointless.
Whoo69 Says:
May 10, 2008 - Is this Mukasey even a former Justice Dept. member or attorney, or is he just some bumbling idiot Republican in a committee on justice that Bush thought was "qualified", sorta like how Porter Goss had only been in intel committees in the house but had never been in intel, at least not a high-level position?? I don't get how Bush comes up with thse stupid nominees. They're jokes! He nominated a gynecologist who thought scripture could stop PMS pain and tried to anally "rape" his wife in bed.
Whoo69 Says:
May 10, 2008 - And now, our CIA head is some four-star general FROM THE NSA!! The same people who actually obeyed Bush and wiretapped without warrants. His priorities are all fucked up. The only reason Tenet had any shred of credibility is because Bush managed to keep him as a holdover from Clinton. But Tenet has been shown to be a piece of crap since he actually let Bush manipulate intel and use the CIA for his phony war in Iraq.
Whoo69 Says:
May 10, 2008 - In June 2003, Democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer submitted Mukasey's name, along with four other Republicans or Republican appointees, as a suggestion for Bush to consider for nomination to the Supreme Court WTF?? Chuck Schumer, you douche, you sold us out!!!!
runswithscissorsalot Says:
Apr 23, 2008 - this guy's an idiot. the telecom companies knew the laws of the land. no administration is above the law. for the record, telecom companies will be obliged to cooperate in all future anti terrorist activities because warrants are the law of the land. this pickle that mukasey is talking about is all thanks to the bush administration, NOT the democrats. i hate this guy