Mukasey's U.S. attorney general bid improves

By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's nomination of Michael Mukasey to be the next U.S. attorney general appeared virtually assured on Friday when two key Democrats declared their support, despite concerns by others about the retired judge's view of torture.

Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California are both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is set to vote on Tuesday on whether to send the nomination to the full Senate for approval.

The full Senate would then have to approve the nomination.

"I will support Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general," Schumer said, adding it was an "extremely difficult decision." Feinstein, noting the ex-judge's experience on national security issues, said Mukasey delivered "crisp and succinct" testimony to the Judiciary Committee.

In backing Mukasey, Feinstein also said that Congress should "explicitly ban 'waterboarding' and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques for all parts of the government."

Schumer, following a meeting with the nominee, said that if Congress were to pass such a law, "He (Mukasey) flatly told me that the president would have absolutely no legal authority to ignore such a law."

Schumer and Feinstein's support for Mukasey came shortly after Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, announced his opposition.

"I like Michael Mukasey. I wish that I could support his nomination. But I cannot," Leahy said.

Mukasey, nominated for the job by Bush after the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, has come under increasing criticism from Democrats for his refusal to reject an interrogation technique known as "waterboarding" that simulates drowning.

PUSH FROM BUSH

Speaking in Columbia, South Carolina, Bush made another pitch for Mukasey, saying, "I strongly urge the United States Senate to confirm this man so that I can have an attorney general to work with to protect the United States of America from further attack."

But Leahy was not persuaded.

"There may be interrogation techniques that require close examination and extensive briefings," Leahy said. "Waterboarding is not among them. No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is torture."

Since his confirmation hearings, Democrats have been asking Mukasey to clarify his position on waterboarding and whether the ex-judge considered it unlawful torture.