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“You had one leader of the Republican Party call her the equivalent to the head of the Klu Klux Klan,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy said on CNN’s State of the Union. “Another leader of the Republican Party called her a bigot,” Leahy added, later explaining that he was making reference to comments by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

After Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Ranking Republican on the committee, referred to Sotomayor’s past involvement in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, Leahy again suggested that some Republicans were being unfairly critical of Sotomayor.

“I hope we don’t go back to the day when we used to have African-Americans up for confirmation and say ‘Yes, but you belong to the NAACP so, you know, we’re really suspicious of you,’” Leahy said CNN’s State of the Union.

“C’mon, stop the racial politics,” Leahy added.

Leahy remarks drew an immediate response from Sessions.
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“You had one leader of the Republican Party call her the equivalent to the head of the Klu Klux Klan,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy said on CNN’s State of the Union. “Another leader of the Republican Party called her a bigot,” Leahy added, later explaining that he was making reference to comments by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

After Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Ranking Republican on the committee, referred to Sotomayor’s past involvement in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, Leahy again suggested that some Republicans were being unfairly critical of Sotomayor.

“I hope we don’t go back to the day when we used to have African-Americans up for confirmation and say ‘Yes, but you belong to the NAACP so, you know, we’re really suspicious of you,’” Leahy said CNN’s State of the Union.

“C’mon, stop the racial politics,” Leahy added.

Leahy remarks drew an immediate response from Sessions.
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Minnesota Sen. Al Franken volunteered to switch seats with Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy after the Vermont senator's microphone stopped working.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - It's only his first Senate hearing, but Sen. Al Franken took the chairman's seat at the Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

When Chairman Patrick Leahy experienced a technical problem with his microphone, Franken volunteered to switch places with the Vermont senator, and sit in Leahy's chair. Faced with little choice, Leahy ambled down to the far end of the dais, and sat in the junior senator's chair to finish his prepared written statement. Franken, meanwhile, sat in Leahy's chair smiling from ear to ear.

Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions congratulated Franken on the move to the chairman's spot: "This is the fastest rise of any senator in history!" But the Minnesota senator's shift was short-lived: he soon relinquished the chair, and waited on the side until Leahy finished his statement. Leahy then returned to the chairman's seat, where a new microphone was in place. And Franken returned to the tail end of the committee seating chart.

Franken is in his sixth day in the Senate.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken volunteered to switch seats with Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy after the Vermont senator's microphone stopped working.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - It's only his first Senate hearing, but Sen. Al Franken took the chairman's seat at the Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

When Chairman Patrick Leahy experienced a technical problem with his microphone, Franken volunteered to switch places with the Vermont senator, and sit in Leahy's chair. Faced with little choice, Leahy ambled down to the far end of the dais, and sat in the junior senator's chair to finish his prepared written statement. Franken, meanwhile, sat in Leahy's chair smiling from ear to ear.

Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions congratulated Franken on the move to the chairman's spot: "This is the fastest rise of any senator in history!" But the Minnesota senator's shift was short-lived: he soon relinquished the chair, and waited on the side until Leahy finished his statement. Leahy then returned to the chairman's seat, where a new microphone was in place. And Franken returned to the tail end of the committee seating chart.

Franken is in his sixth day in the Senate.

(CNN) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.

"Senator Leahy's decision to rush Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearing is indeed puzzling," McConnell said. "It risks resulting in a less informed hearing, and it breaks with years of tradition in which bipartisan agreements were reached and honored over the scheduling of hearings for Supreme Court nominees. And it damages the cordiality and goodwill the Senate relies on to do its business."

Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, announced Tuesday the hearings for Sotomayor would begin on July 13 - a date that was determined, according to the GOP, without consulting Sen. Jeff Sessions - the committee's ranking Republican.

"They want the shortest confirmation timeline in recent memory for someone with the longest record in recent memory," McConnell said. "This violates basic standards of fairness and it prevents senators from carrying out one of their most solemn duties, a thorough review of the president's nominee to a lifetime position on the highest court in the land."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing for the U.S. Supreme Court on July 13, chairman Pat Leahy of Vermont said Tuesday.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Leahy said the July hearing date favored by President Barack Obama would provide sufficient time for thorough examination of the federal appellate judge's record.

"It's going to allow several more weeks for committee members to prepare for the hearing ... and there's no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee," Leahy said.

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Hillary Clinton told lawmakers that new U.S. aid to Pakistan won't fund nuclear development.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday tried to reassure senators that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is secure and that U.S. aid money won't be diverted to produce even more nuclear weapons.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, raised the issue of Pakistan increasing its nuclear weapons stockpile as he chaired a hearing of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

"Are we just giving them money, which is after all fungible, and is going into not fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda, which are groups that are destabilizing that country more and more all the time, but rather is that money just going into the nuclear program?" Leahy asked.

"I think that there is no basis for believing that any of the money that we are providing will be diverted into the nuclear program," Clinton replied.

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(CNN) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, hailed David Souter as a "gifted jurist" and a "first-rate legal mind" Friday in an issued statement:

“Justice Souter has served the Nation with distinction for nearly two decades on the Supreme Court. I have admired his commitment to justice, his admiration for the law, and his understanding of the impact of the Court’s decisions on the daily lives of ordinary Americans. Throughout his career, he has been committed to the law and not to ideology. New Englanders treasure our strong sense of independence, and Justice Souter fits the independent Yankee mold. He has a first-rate legal mind. I have known him to be an honest and tireless person who has given years of his life in service to this country.

“Of course, we have all known that his deep love for New Hampshire would take him away from the Court some day. Nonetheless, I am sad to see a gifted jurist, a dedicated public servant and a decent man leave the bench. We have long been neighbors in New England, and I look forward to seeing him at home.

“Now more than ever, while the country is in the throes of an economic recession, and fighting to strengthen our economic and national security, Americans are looking to Washington for leadership and cooperation. I know that as President Obama selects a nominee to replace Justice Souter, he will continue to consult with Senators from both sides of the aisle as he has this year with so many nominations. In exercising their important roles in the confirmation of the next Supreme Court Justice, I hope that all Senators will take this opportunity to unify around the shared constitutional values that will define Justice Souter’s legacy on the Court.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has called for a commission on torture allegations.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman called Wednesday for the establishment of a nonpartisan "commission of inquiry" to investigate allegations of wrongdoing against former Bush administration officials in their prosecution of the war on terrorism.

Nothing "did more to damage America's place in the world than the revelation that our great nation stretched the law and the bounds of executive power to authorize torture and cruel treatment," Sen. Patrick Leahy said at the start of a committee hearing.

American "detention policies and practices from Guantanamo Bay [Cuba] and Abu Ghraib [Iraq] have seriously eroded fundamental American principles of the rule of law," he added.

Leahy, D-Vermont, called for the "truth commission" to have a "targeted mandate" focusing on issues of national security and executive power. He said it should look specifically at allegations of "questionable interrogation techniques," "extraordinary rendition" and the "executive override of laws."

He added that the commission should have the power to issue subpoenas and offer immunity to witnesses "in order to get to the whole truth."

Leahy refused to rule out of the possibility of prosecutions for perjury committed during the commission's hearings.

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Sen. Patrick Leahy's comments are likely to re-ignite a simmering debate about how actively to focus on past political and legal policy disputes.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A key Democrat Monday called for the formation of a commission to launch a wide-ranging investigation of alleged wrongdoing by the Bush administration's Justice Department.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, called establishment of such a commission a "middle ground" between those who are demanding prosecutions, and those who simply want to put past disputes to rest.

"I don't want to embarrass anybody. I don't want to punish anybody. I just want the truth to come out so this never happens again," Leahy told a student audience at the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Vice President Dick Cheney said he isn't sorry for calling a senator the f-word.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, deserved it when Cheney launched the f-word at him in 2004.

In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Cheney was asked if he had any second thoughts or embarrassment. "No. I thought he merited it at the time," Cheney said, laughing.

The incident occurred in June 2004 when both Cheney and Leahy were on the Senate floor.

Sources who related the incident to CNN at the time said the vice president had told Leahy to either "f- off" or "go f- yourself."

Read more on the incident

The encounter during the 2004 presidential campaign, sources said then, was brought on by Leahy's criticism of the vice president over Halliburton Co. Cheney is the former chief executive officer of the oil field services company, and Democrats had suggested he helped win lucrative contracts for his former firm while serving in the Bush administration.

"It was partly that, it was partly also ... it had to do with - he is the kind of individual who will make those kinds of charges and then come act as though he's your best friend, and I expressed in no uncertain terms my views of his conduct and walked away," Cheney said at the time.

But as the old saying goes, time heals all wounds ... well, sort of.

"And we've since, I think, patched over that wound and we're civil to one another now," Cheney said this Sunday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - In his second day on the job, Attorney General Michael Mukasey leaped into the political fray, telling a key Democratic senator he opposes his electronic surveillance plan and would recommend the president veto it if it is passed.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the eve of crucial committee votes to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Mukasey was adamant in opposing Leahy's plan for changing the law.

Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell co-signed the letter released Wednesday night by the Justice Department.

"We strongly oppose the proposed substitute amendment. If the substitute is part of a bill that is presented to the president, we and the president's other senior advisers will recommend that he veto the bill," they said.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont will vote against the nomination of Michael Mukasey as attorney general, a source close to the senator told CNN Friday.

 Full story

Related video: Leahy won't vote for Mukasey 

Related: Bush plays the 9/11 card

Watch Sens. Leahy and Specter in the Situation Room.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, were in CNN's Situation Room Tuesday.  Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Specter, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke with Wolf Blitzer about the upcoming confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, presidential power, and revising federal wiretapping law.

Click here to see CNN's new political portal: CNNPolitics.com

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The White House asked for more time to produce documents regarding the legality of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program Monday, but the chairman of the Senate committee that demanded them said "Time is up."

Sen. Patrick Leahy said the Senate Judiciary Committee has given White House officials more than a month to turn over the documents and granted previous extensions of a subpoena it issued in June. That delay "goes way beyond what anyone expected," he said.

"Time is up," Leahy, D-Vermont, told reporters. "We've waited long enough."

Leahy said that unless the administration complies with the subpoena, "The full Judiciary
Committee will have to sit down and determine whether to seek contempt from the full Senate." He added, "Right now there's no question they're in contempt of a valid order of the Congress."

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Leahy has landed a role in the newest Batman movie.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – He's a veteran statesman and hard-hitting chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Sen. Patrick Leahy is set to leave the marble halls of Washington for the bright lights of Hollywood - at least briefly.

Vermont's senior senator has landed a speaking role in the newest Batman movie, CNN affiliate WPTZ reports and confirmed by Leahy's office.

Leahy is apparently a big comic book enthusiast, and actually served as an extra in the 1997 Batman installment: Batman and Robin.

The senator told the station he can't reveal the exact details of his role in the upcoming movie, but he did say he has landed a scene with its two stars, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger.

It’s not particularly uncommon for senators and other Washington notables to accept movie roles when given the chance. Arizona Sen. John McCain made a brief cameo in the 2005 Summer blockbuster, "Wedding Crashers." The cast of the 1993 political comedy “Dave” starred, among others, Sens. Chris Dodd, Tom Harkin, Howard Metzenbaum, Paul Simon and Alan Simpson, as well as Speaker Tip O’Neill.

Related: Leahy: Rove leaving under a cloud

– CNN's Alexander Mooney and Lauren Kornreich

Watch CNN's Suzanne Malveaux report on why Rove decided to resign his post.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said in a statement released Monday that longtime Bush advisor and White House aide Karl Rove has “acted as if he was above the law.”

Leahy, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading the congressional investigation of the Bush administration’s firing of several U.S. attorneys. Leahy’s committee subpoenaed Rove as part of its investigation, but the White House refused to let Rove testify, instead asserting a claim of executive privilege for Rove’s communications with President Bush.

“I continue to ask what Mr. Rove and others at the White House are so desperate to hide,” Leahy said in his statement.

After vowing to continue the investigation into the U.S. attorney firings, Leahy also said Monday that “there is a cloud over this White House, and a gathering storm. A similar cloud envelopes Mr. Rove, even as he leaves the White House.”

– CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart