Comey: I Urged Not to Waterboard

In front of a Senate panel on Tuesday, Obama’s nominee for FBI director, James B. Comey, said that while he was deputy attorney general under Dubya—when he said it was OK to waterboard—he believed the tactic was torture. Now Comey thinks waterboarding is illegal, too. At the time, he said, it was difficult to label the technique illegal because the law itself was vague. Still, he says he told the administration to stop waterboarding. While Comey is a pick that’s actually received some bipartisan support, some Democrats are concerned with his time serving in the Bush administration.