Washington • On a near party-line vote, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed a controversial nominee to serve as a federal judge in Utah, with all Democrats and one Republican opposing Howard Nielson for the lifetime job.
Nielson, the son of former Utah Rep. Howard Nielson, came under fire by critics for his past work in George W. Bush’s Justice Department that offered legal opinions to justify enhanced interrogation techniques that some consider torture.
Nielson didn’t write the memos on the techniques — and supported overturning them — though he authored another one that said the Geneva Conventions only protected civilians in enemy custody held on American soil and not elsewhere.