Michael Mukasey May Be Named AG Monday

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Sun Sep 16, 2007 at 09:23:00 AM EST
Tags: Michael Mukasey (all tags)

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Bump and Update: President Bush may announce Mukasey as Attorney General on Monday. Glenn Greenwald has a lot more analysis, particularly on his role in the Padilla case.

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Original Post 9/15
Michael Mukasey Floated as AG Replacement

White House officials seem to be testing the name of former U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. CNN and the AP are reporting he is now the leading candidate.

I've been reading up on him for the past several hours and will present the pros and cons below.

Preliminary assessment: He's independent-minded, extremely experienced and smart, and while more conservative on terror-related issues than I'd like, far too supportive of the Patriot Act and too close to Rudy Giuliani for comfort, he doesn't run rough-shod over defendants' rights. As compared to Ted Olson, Mukasey is an improvement.

So, who is Michael Mukasey? See below.

Sen. Charles Schumer, who is pushing Mukasey for Attorney General, touted him to Bush for the Supreme Court in 2003.

Mukasey is a decades-long pal of Rudy Giuliani and, like Ted Olson, now serves as a judiciary advisor to Rudy's campaign. Judge Mukasey swore in Rudy Giuliani as Mayor of New York -- twice in two days. One ceremony took place New Year's Eve at Mukasey's apartment.

Mukasey's son, Marc, also a former federal prosecutor, is a partner in Bracewell-Giuliani.

Judge Mukasey presided over the 1993 WTC bombing trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and his co-defendants.

He's a firm supporter of the Patriot Act, writing a Wall St. Journal Op-Ed in 2004 that urged,