Bush to nominate retired federal judge Michael Mukasey as new A-G

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush has settled on Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and will announce his selection Monday, a person familiar with the president's decision said. Mukasey, who has handled terrorist cases in the US legal system for more than a decade, would become the top US law enforcement officer if confirmed by the Senate. Mukasey has the support of some key Democrats, and it appeared Bush was trying to avoid a bruising confirmation battle. The 66-year-old New York native, who is a judicial adviser to Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, would take charge of a Justice Department where morale is low following months of investigations into the firings of nine US attorneys and Gonzales' sworn testimony on the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program.