Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reid not sure if he'd vote for Gonzales
By TONY BATT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Harry Reid
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WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday he does not know if he would vote to confirm Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the Supreme Court, despite saying last week that Gonzales is qualified for the post.
"At this stage, I have no opinion whether I would vote for him or not," Reid said when asked about Gonzales. "We would have to see what the (Senate Judiciary) Committee comes up with."
In February, Reid voted against Gonzales' nomination to become attorney general.
Asked how Gonzales could be qualified to become a Supreme Court justice, but not attorney general, Reid said, "What I said last week is there's no question that he has the credentials. I also said that (Gonzales is) somebody that the Judiciary Committee would have to continue vetting, and we'd have to see."
Gonzales has been prominently mentioned among candidates President Bush might nominate to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Brian Nick, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said, "It appears that Senator Reid needs more clear and consistent direction from the liberal special interest groups."
When the Senate considered Gonzales' nomination to be attorney general, Reid delivered scathing criticism of the former White House counsel.
Reid targeted a 2002 memo by Gonzales, saying it opened the door for harsh interrogation techniques in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"I heard Senator (Edward) Kennedy (D-Mass.) state that the dean of Yale Law School, probably the number one law school in the entire country, has said he has never seen legal reasoning as bad as the Gonzales memo," Reid said on the Senate floor. "That is pretty bad."
Reid is scheduled to meet this morning at the White House with Bush about the next Supreme Court nominee. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who is the committee's ranking Democrat, also are expected to attend the meeting.
Reid on Monday praised Bush for seeking his input on the next Supreme Court nominee. White House counsel Harriet Miers paid the Nevadan a courtesy call shortly before O'Connor announced her retirement. When O'Connor made the announcement on July 1, Bush called Reid.
