Dear Reader,

It was quite the tableau. There sat the distinguished white-haired federal judge opposite a bank of U.S. senators on the Judiciary Committee. The issue was whether this longtime respected jurist should be confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States. The question was especially fraught on this occasion because of the dilapidated state of the Justice Department, its independence in question, with the nominee’s predecessor accused of politicizing the agency, serving the president’s interests over the public’s, and even removing U.S. Attorneys for partisan reasons.

The nominee, who was ostensibly chosen for his integrity and perceived ability to restore the independent reputation of DOJ, pledged to block political meddling at the Department, insisted that partisan politics was unacceptable in law enforcement decision-making, and assured senators he would be more arms’ length from the White House than the previous Senate-confirmed occupant of the office.

The scene was October of 2007, and the man in the seat was the former chief judge of the Southern District of New York, Michael B. Mukasey. Yes, I guess history does rhyme. Front and center at Mukasey’s confirmation was the need for a restoration at the Justice Department. I had just spent the better part of that year leading a Senate investigation into the infusion of politics at the agency I loved and had served and, unbeknownst to me, would serve again.