Leahy Presses Mukasey For Answers To Justice Department Witness
Questions
Hundreds Of Hearing Questions Remain Unanswered
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008) – Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter
Wednesday to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, urging the Justice
Department to respond to hundreds of hearing questions that remain
unanswered by Department witnesses who have testified before the
Committee. Several questions date back over one year.
Witnesses who testify before the Senate panel are
often asked written questions by Committee members. Witness
responses to questions submitted for the record are required before
official hearing transcripts can be produced and made available to
the public. Mukasey has yet to respond to questions from
Committee members in connection with his July 9, 2008, appearance
before the Committee. During that hearing, both Democratic and
Republican members of the Judiciary Committee pressed Mukasey to
provide timely responses to Committee questions and correspondences.
“I trust that you understand how these unanswered
questions compromise this Committee’s oversight responsibilities,”
Leahy wrote to Mukasey. “It is my hope that the Department
will answer all outstanding questions before the adjournment of the
110th Congress. You can set an example by promptly
returning responsive answers to the questions posed to you in
connection with the July 9 oversight hearing, which was more than
four months ago.”
More than 300 questions sent to Justice Department
witnesses who testified at 11 Judiciary Committee hearings remain
unanswered. The full text of Leahy’s letter follows. A
PDF, and listing of unanswered questions, is available
online.
November 19, 2008
The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
Department of Justice witnesses have failed to
answer hundreds of written questions submitted by Republican and
Democratic Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I am
writing to ask you to expeditiously rectify this problem.
It is imperative that witnesses provide complete,
accurate and timely responses, as provided by law, to questions
posed to them by Members of the Committee. The Committee provides a
two-week period for witnesses to submit responses to written
questions submitted to them following their appearances before the
Committee. Witnesses may seek extensions for good cause beyond the
two-week period, but the majority of the outstanding questions
submitted to Department of Justice witnesses have been pending for
many months. The details of the outstanding questions are set
out in the attached chart. Please let me know by November 26
when the Committee can expect to receive answers to these questions.
I trust that you understand how these unanswered
questions compromise this Committee’s oversight responsibilities.
It is my hope that the Department will answer all outstanding
questions before the adjournment of the 110th Congress.
You can set an example by promptly returning responsive answers to
the questions posed to you in connection with the July 9 oversight
hearing, which was more than four months ago.
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
Chairman
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