Patrick J Leahy

Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday. "We need a president who can reintroduce America to the world and actually reintroduce America to ourselves," Leahy told reporters in a conference call. "I believe Barack Obama is the best person to do that." The Vermont senator's endorsement gives Obama, of Illinois, the backing of eight Democratic senators, compared with 11 for Sen.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday vigorously challenged FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III for the bureau's handling of the anthrax mailings investigation, signaling that they were not convinced the case had been solved. Both the panel's Democratic chairman and its most senior Republican said that, based on what evidence they had seen, the FBI had not proved that the mailings were perpetrated solely by Bruce E.

Setting up what could become the first showdown between the Bush administration and the new Democratic Congress, the Justice Department has refused to turn over two secret documents, describing the CIA's detention and interrogation policies for suspected terrorists, to the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Sunday that he was ready to go to court if the White House resisted congressional subpoenas for information on the firing of eight federal prosecutors. "If they don't cooperate, yes, I'd go that far," Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press." He had been asked whether he would seek a congressional vote on contempt citations if President Bush did not comply. That move would push the matter to court.

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Holy Beltway, Batman! Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has a part in the next Batman movie. "I don't wear tights," he said. Leahy's scene for "The Dark Knight" was filmed this summer and involves Batman, played by Christian Bale, the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, and Alfred Pennyworth, played by Michael Caine. The longtime Batman fan would reveal little about his role other than that he is called the "distinguished gentleman."

A top Senate Democrat threatened to hold members of the Bush administration in contempt for not producing subpoenaed information about the legal justification for President Bush's secretive eavesdropping program. "When the Senate comes back in the session, I'll bring it up before the committee," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I prefer cooperation to contempt.