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September 17, 2007

Whitehouse 'cautiously optimistic' about A.G. choice

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse speaks today at Roger Williams University School of Law, where the former U.S. attorney for Rhode Island's topic was "Why We Need an Independent Department of Justice."

BRISTOL -- U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse today said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Michael B. Mukasey, the former federal judge who is President Bush’s choice to replace Alberto R. Gonzales as U.S. attorney general.

Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold Mukasey’s confirmation hearings, spoke at the Rogers Williams University School of Law as part of a program marking the 220th birthday of the U.S. Constitution.

“Not only is it Constitution Day,” Whitehouse told the audience, “It is also the first Gonzales-free day.”

Gonzales resigned late last month amid controversy over the firing of U.S. attorneys and allegations that he may have perjured himself when he testified before Congress. He left the Justice Department on Friday.

Overall, Democrats did not declare any outright opposition to Mukasey, whose selection was announced by Bush this morning.

Before the speech, Whitehouse told reporters that Mukasey “seems to be well qualified, and he does not seem to be the kind of individual who would let his ideology run away with him and affect his ability to run an independent Department of Justice.”

Mukasey, 66, was appointed to the federal bench by President Reagan in 1987, and retired last year to go into private practice. He spent 19 years as a federal judge in New York, including as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

But Whitehouse emphasized that “very serious issues” remain regarding congressional oversight, such as getting documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors. He said he wants to make sure that Mukasey “understands how important it is that the Justice Department be rebuilt and how serious the damage is.”

He said he wants to ensure that Mukasey is “not following the Bush line that this was just a political attack on Gonzales, that there’s nothing really wrong there.”

“If he gets those things, and the hearing process will show that, then I think he’s got a very good chance to be our next attorney general,” Whitehouse said. “But a lot depends on the hearings.”

Whitehouse said Mukasey appears to be a better choice than Theodore B. Olsen, the former solicitor general favored by some conservatives. “The purpose right now that the department needs to achieve is convincing the American public that it will do the right thing first and the political thing second,” he said. “So somebody who has been as closely associated with President Bush and has been as involved in political matters as Ted Olsen had a lot to explain.”

By contrast, Mukasey is “coming off a court where he served for a long time through many administrations with considerable distinction,” Whitehouse said. So Mukasey “starts with a better feel for his independence, and I think that’s an important starting point.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:12 PM | Permalink

September 17, 2007

Whitehouse 'cautiously optimistic' about A.G. choice

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