Michael Mukasey, Orthodox Ex-Attorney General, Blasts Hillary Clinton as ‘Unfit’
Michael Mukasey Image by Getty Images
By Ron Kampeas July 20, 2016
CLEVELAND — Michael Mukasey, the U.S. attorney general under President George W, Bush, attacked Hillary Clinton’s fitness for office at the Republican convention.
Mukasey, speaking Tuesday to the Republican National Convention, outlined examples of what he said were Clinton’s violation of her oath of office when she served as secretary of state in President Barack Obama’s first term, referring to her use of a private email server to send official emails, including some containing classified information.
“Hillary Clinton is asking the people of this country to make her the president in history to take the constitutional oath of office after having violated it,” he said. “No way Hillary!”
The FBI recently concluded that Clinton’s actions with the server were lax, but did not merit prosecution.
Mukasey did not mention nominee Donald Trump in his remarks. During the primaries, he said Trump was unfit to hold office, in part because of the candidate’s broad generalizations about national security,
Mukasey, who is Orthodox, is the second Jew to serve as attorney-general. The first was Ed Levi, who served under President Gerald Ford.
A former judge, he has since leaving office emerged as a fierce critic of Islam, suggesting that the Muslims are rapidly radicalizing.
He has come under fire from anti-torture groups for his defense of the use of waterboarding.
Much of the convention, so far, has focused on attacks in Clinton, leavened occasionally with praise for Trump.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor on Tuesday “tried” Clinton for what he depicted as her foreign policy transgressions, urging the crowd to declare her “guilty.”
One of these was her role in shaping the sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal.
“She launched the negotiations that brought about the worst nuclear deal in history,” he said.
“It’s a deal that will lead to a nuclear Iran an Israel that is much less secure.”
“Guilty,” the crowd shouted.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
