Mukasey Tells Congress to Back Off CIA Tapes Inquiry

Michael Mukasey isn't about to open up to Democratic lawmakers who want details of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes, the Washington Post reports. In letters sent today, the new AG also restated his objections to appointing a special prosecutor to investigate, as Joe Biden and other Senate Democrats have demanded.

"At my confirmation hearing, I testified that I would act independently, resist political pressure, and ensure that politics plays no role” in Justice decision-making, Mukasey writes in letters to Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy and others. He says divulging details would foster a “perception that our law enforcement decisions are subject to political influence." (More Arlen Specter stories.)