JURIST - Paper Chase: Bush announces recess appointment for stalled DOJ opening

[JURIST] President Bush has used a recess appointment to fill an opening at the Justice Department [White House press release] that was stalled in the Senate, naming attorney Alice S. Fisher to the top post in the DOJ's criminal division. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) [official website] had blocked Fisher's nomination in order to question a government agent who named Fisher in an email about alleged abusive interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. The email says Fisher attended meetings about using certain techniques to gather information from detainees. Fisher says she can't recall participating in the discussions, and the DOJ says the writer didn't mean to say she did. Longstanding policy prevented the agent from testifying. Levin also had blocked a Pentagon nominee who was given a recess appointment [JURIST report] in August. AP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...