Levin Threatens to Block Homeland Nominee [View All]

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON Sep 20, 2005 — A Democratic senator threatened Tuesday to block approval of a Homeland Security Department nominee until he receives a secret FBI memo about terror suspect interrogations that he's been seeking for months.

The threat against Julie L. Myers, tapped to head the department's bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, came amid lawmakers' concerns that she lacked the experience to head the federal government's second-largest investigative force.

Asked if he planned to use legislative delaying tactics against Myers nomination, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said: "Oh yeah. If we don't get the documents, sure."
....
In February, Democratic senators began asking for an unedited version of the memo to see if it mentioned or involved Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who headed the Justice Department's criminal division from 2001 to 2003. The Justice Department denied the request, saying the memos contain "information covered by the Privacy Act," and had nothing to do with Chertoff.

Myers was Chertoff's chief of staff at the time, said Levin, who also delayed Chertoff's nomination in February for a week to protest being denied the names of people who sent and received the e-mail....

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1144330&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312