Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he will not support any administration nominee that has supported torture techniques.
He said so in a statement explaining why he voted against confirming Steven Engel to head up the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. McCain was the only Republican senator to vote “no.”
“Mr. Engel reviewed and commented on this memo, which attempted to justify interrogation techniques that violate the Geneva Conventions and stain our national honor,” McCain said in a statement to Politico on Wednesday. “I cannot in good conscience vote for any nominee who in any way has supported the use of enhanced interrogation.”
During the confirmation process, Engel told the Senate Judiciary Committee that during his time as deputy assistant attorney general, he “reviewed and commented” on a draft version of a memo that approved enhanced interrogation techniques in 2007. Engel did not elaborate on his own personal views regarding the memo’s assertion.
McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, cautioned the Trump administration against implementing enhanced interrogation techniques in January when reports suggested Trump was contemplating an executive order to reinstate Bush-era detainee treatment standards.
“The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes,” McCain said at the time. “But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.”
Engel was confirmed Tuesday, by a 51-47 margin.
