Bush Picks Mukasey For Attorney General

WASHINGTON – President Bush, seeking to avert a possible confirmation fight over a more partisan candidate, chose retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey Monday to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“Judge Mukasey is clear-eyed about the threat our nation faces,” Bush said.If confirmed by the Senate, Mukasey, a retired federal judge who has handled terrorism cases for more than a decade, would become Bush’s third attorney general. Bush said that as chief judge of the busy U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mukasey presided over high-profile national security cases.

“He knows what it takes to fight this war effectively and he knows how to do it in a manner consistent with our laws and our Constitution,” Bush said, standing next Mukasey in the Rose Garden. Bush urged the Senate to quickly confirm Mukasey. If Mukasey gets a nod from the Senate, he would take charge of a Justice Department where morale is low following months of investigations into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and Gonzales’ sworn testimony on the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program.

Mukasey said he was honored to be Bush’s nominee to take the helm of the department. “My finest hope and prayer at this time is that if confirmed I can give them the support and the leadership they deserve,” he said. “I look forward to meeting with members of Congress in the days ahead and, if confirmed, to working with Congress to meeting our nation’s challenges,” Mukasey said, just before shaking the president’s hand and walking back with him into the Oval Office.

There had been rampant speculation that Bush might turn to former Solicitor General Ted Olson for the job, but key Democrats on Capitol Hill said they believed Olson too partisan a figure and indicated they would fight his nomination.

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer