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Attorney General Gorelick? Could the creator of the "wall of separation" between foreign and domestic investigations become the next Attorney General of the United States? Would you trust a person who's up to her elbows in the current financial upheaval to persue due diligence in the FBI's investigation of the key players in that debacle? Would President Obama, himself the number two beneficiary of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's political largesse, allow his Attorney General to prosecute these cases? Would you have faith in the advise and consent capacity of a Senate composed of nearly 60 Democrats, among them Christopher...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (Legal Newsline)-When the nation's association of Democratic attorneys general meets here later this week it will largely be under a cloud of secrecy despite the fact that the event is open to non-Democrats and lobbyists. The coordinator for the Democratic Attorneys General Association has declined to answer any questions about this weekend's event and who is attending the organization's Fall Policy Conference at the swanky Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa. DAGA Executive Director Travis Berry said the event is closed to the press, and declined to share with LNL which AGs or even how many AGs...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-A group of 13 Republican state attorneys general are urging Republican U.S. senators to back legislation that would limit the federal government's ability to force reporters to reveal their confidential sources. The Free Flow of Information Act, already approved by House and awaiting a vote in the Senate, would bring federal law in line with state laws in 49 states that protect reporters' confidential sources in most cases. The letter seeks to allay concern that if enacted the law could fetter the government's pursuit of terrorists.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline)-Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson is featured in a county commissioner's anti-gay campaign comic book. In the comic created by Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, a devil threatens a small child with a pitchfork, saying" "If I can get the kids to believe homosexuality is normal!" while an angel yells, "Not with Brent around you won't!"

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline)-A Missouri candidate for the state Legislature says he has returned a $300 contribution from fellow Democrat state Sen. Chris Koster, who's running for attorney general. Dr. Vernon (Doc) Harlan of St. Louis is running for the 71st District state House seat in the Aug. 5 primary. Harlan said he returned the contributions amid recent revelations that Koster's campaign may have "been connected to laundering of political funds."

The rumor mill in Montgomery is swirling of news of a potential resignation by Republican Attorney General Troy King, amid rumors that he was caught by his wife having sex with a male aide and subsequently banished from his home by his wife. King, a potential GOP frontrunner for Governor in 2010, succeeded Bill Pryor, one of George W. Bush’s most controversial judicial nominees. In addition, King was also an early endorser of John McCain.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann admitted that he had an affair with a subordinate on Friday at a press conference held in response to an internal investigation of sexual harrassment claims against Director of General Services Anthony Gutierrez. Results of the internal investigation were released on approximately 9:30am Friday morning.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline)-Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon on Wednesday criticized his state's handling of the multi-state tobacco settlement that provides states millions of dollars annually.

From Terry Frieden CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been taken aback by the scope and variety of potential terrorism threats facing the United States, he told reporters Friday at an informal meeting in his office. Attorney General Michael Mukasey receives terrorism updates during national security briefings. "I'm surprised by how surprised I am," said Mukasey, who as a federal judge presided over terrorism-related trials in New York. "It's surprising how varied [the threat] is, how many directions it comes from, how geographically spread out it is," he said. Mukasey issued no warnings, made no pronouncements and...

MEDINA NY: Doctor’s office searched Hassan Medical targeted by State Attorney General’s office By NICOLE COLEMAN Investigators with the New York State Attorney General’s Office raided a Gwinn Street family physician’s office during patient visiting hours Friday. Wearing official jackets and golden badges, they arrived in multiple SUV trucks at Hassan Medical Group PLLC, 1038 Gwinn St., Medina sometime Friday morning. At least five State Attorney General officials remained at the office throughout the day probing the employees with questions and apparently looking through records. None were able to confirm the reason for their presence or whether they were sent...

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has become the most prominent official in Maryland to endorse gay marriage, telling state legislators yesterday that he believes the current ban on same-sex unions amounts to discrimination. "It would be hard for me to have this job knowing there is something so wrong in our society," Gansler told the Senate panel considering a bill to legalize gay marriage. "I just think it's wrong to discriminate against any people because they think differently or because of their sexual orientation." But Gansler also said that lawmakers in Annapolis might not have the "political courage" to legalize...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON -- The government agency that enforces one of the principal laws aimed at keeping politics out of the civil service has accused the Justice Department of blocking its investigation into alleged politicizing of the department under former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales. Scott J. Bloch, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, wrote Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey last week that the department had repeatedly "impeded" his investigation by refusing to share documents and provide answers to written questions, according to a copy of Bloch's letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The Justice Department wants...

In the article by Steve Kraske in the Kansas City Star today, he states that just before Paul Morrison resigned: Then came revelations that another newspaper had reported a series of threatening phone calls from Morrison to Linda Carter, the woman with whom he’s admitted having a two-year affair.

Michael Mukasey promised Congress during his confirmation hearings that he would operate the Department of Justice in a more independent manner than his predecessor. Yesterday, he took a big step in that direction with an order limiting contacts between Justice and the White House. Communications on pending criminal and civil cases will only get conducted through a limited number of channels (via Memeorandum): Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey issued new restrictions yesterday on contacts between Justice Department and White House officials regarding ongoing criminal or civil investigations, implementing his first major policy revision since taking office on Nov. 9. Mukasey...

SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Jerry Brown -- declaring instant victory on a tobacco suit Tuesday -- plans to file a complaint today demanding that U.S. regulators force airliners and other aircraft to spew lesser amounts of greenhouse gases. The attorney general's aides said Brown's main focus of fighting global warming, which has focused mostly on carbon dioxide emissions from cars and industry, would move skyward today when he files a complaint jointly with other states and environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. Brown is scheduled to announce the petition he's filing with the EPA at Los...

District Attorneys have "National Prosecution Standards." U.S. Attorneys have their own ethics manual. But what about state Attorneys General? They get to make everything up as they go, as their increasingly aggressive prosecutions are showing.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — The Senate confirmed Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night, approving him despite Democratic criticism that he had failed to take an unequivocal stance against the torture of terrorism detainees. Skip to next paragraph Susan Etheridge for The New York Times Michael B. Mukasey The Vote in the Senate Readers' Comments Share your thoughts on the confirmation of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general. Post a Comment » The 53-to-40 vote made Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge, the third person to head the Justice Department during the tenure of President Bush, placing him in...

Senate now voting on confirmation of Mukasey for Attorney General

For Immediate ReleaseNovember 3, 2007 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Judicial NominationsTHE PRESIDENT: Good morning. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination to be our next Attorney General. I thank the committee for scheduling this vote. I urge them to approve this fine man's nomination, and send it to the full Senate as quickly as possible. In a time of war, it is vital for the President to have a full national security team in place -- and the Attorney General is a key member of...

CLICK active links for for authoritative information:. Democratic Sens. Charles "Chucky" Schumer of New York and Dianne "DiFi" Feinstein of California say the will support Michael Mukasey's nomination to be attorney general. Both are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Hillary Clinton has added her name to a laundry list of Democrats that are now opposing the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general. However, she may be in a bind because it was her fellow Senator Chuckie Schumer who nominated Mukasey to begin with. Clinton's opposition? The same as Obama, Edwards and others ... responses to questions about interrogation techniques. Mukasey refused to say whether or not waterboarding is a form of torture. He also said that the president has the authority to disobey constitutional federal statues if it is in effort to defend the country. Waterboarding, by...

District attorneys across the country are asked to follow a code of ethics when they become the chief law enforcer of their county. U.S. attorneys must live by a code of conduct with strict guidelines. But there are no common ethics standards for state attorneys general. Shouldn’t these officials, some of whom are more powerful than their governor, have to follow a basic code of ethical conduct?

Michael Mukasey, the retired judge nominated to be attorney general, is called a "law and order" conservative. That description is, however, not especially informative now that the Bush administration's sweeping claims of presidential powers have unsettled some understandings of what the law is. The following questions, if asked at Mukasey's Senate confirmation hearings, might reveal whether he considers some of these claims extravagant. -- The Bush administration says "the long war" -- the war on terror -- is a perpetual emergency that will last for generations. Waged against us largely by non-state actors, it will not end with a legally...

Janet Reno CD in stores now Published: Sept. 18, 2007 at 8:20 PM KENDALL, Fla., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A three-CD album of historical songs from former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno debuted Tuesday. "Song of America," a 50-tune "history book'" that Reno helped shepherd, is in stores now, the Miami Herald has reported. Reno is listed as an executive producer on the collection, which starts in 1492 with "Lakota Dream Song" and spans 25 eras of U.S. history, concluding with "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," a song about the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Reno said...

President Bush's choice of Michael Mukasey, ... signals that the White House wishes to avoid a Senate confirmation battle. Still, it is unclear whether Mr. Schumer is willing to shepherd Judge Mukasey through confirmation hearings whose main topic could shape up to be the politicization of the Justice Department during Attorney General Gonzales's tenure. In a statement issued last night, the senator was somewhat guarded. "For sure we'd want to ascertain his approach on such important and sensitive issues as wiretapping and the appointment of US attorneys, but he's a lot better than some of the other names mentioned and...

WASHINGTON - Conservatives on Saturday lined up for and against potential attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey, the man they believe has ascended to the top of President Bush's list of replacements for Alberto Gonzales. Earlier in the week, Democrats in the Senate threatened to block confirmation of another prospect — Theodore Olson, a longtime GOP ally and former solicitor general who represented Bush before the Supreme Court in the contested 2000 presidential election. The behind-the-scenes battle over who will succeed Gonzales heated up over the weekend as the president, who was at Camp David, moved closer to announcing his choice....

Not content with having run Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out of town, the Democratic posse on Capitol Hill is already gunning for his replacement--even before he's nominated. More preposterous still, they're disguising this pre-emptive borking as a plea for a "consensus" choice. The breadth of this proposed condominium appears to be on the narrow side, however, running from Harry Reid to Pat Leahy, and perhaps stretching all the way to Chuck Schumer. Revealingly, this "consensus" doesn't seem to have room for Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General who is merely one of America's finest lawyers. "Ted Olson will not be...

Senate Republicans on Wednesday fired a warning shot at Democrats on the White House’s still-unnamed attorney general pick as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared that front-runner Ted Olson would not be confirmed. The early sparring over the successor to Alberto Gonzales, who cedes power at the Justice Department on Friday, foreshadows a brutal confirmation battle to come. Minutes after Reid declared former solicitor general Olson was too partisan for the job, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fired a salvo at Democrats who would delay Gonzales’s replacement. “If they were serious when they cried out for new leadership at the...

When you're running behind, that's when to quit. That's the message the president is getting from those who urge him to make a go-along-to-get-along appointment to replace Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general. His decision may be announced as early as today. After Gonzales' resignation speech, it took less than five minutes for CNN to suggest that President Bush had a chance to "reach out to Democrats." And less than 15 minutes after Gonzales' speech, MSNBC put Democratic strategist Richard Goodwin on the air to suggest that Bush pick "a moderate Republican or even a Democrat. That would not be...

If the buzz around Washington is correct, and Theodore Olson is nominated to be the new attorney general, Democrats may rue that they do not have Alberto Gonzales to kick around anymore. The appointment of Mr. Olson would send a clear signal to Congress that President Bush is not about to go soft during his last 15 months in office. He may have lost a loyal Texan friend in Mr. Gonzales, but the return of Mr. Olson to government would show that the president is determined to maintain his ideological equilibrium.-SNIP- The speculation making the rounds on Capitol Hill suggests...

President Bush is expected to choose a replacement for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales by the middle of next week, and former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has emerged as one of the leading contenders for the job, according to sources inside and outside the government who are familiar with White House deliberations. Other candidates still in the running include former deputy attorney general George J. Terwilliger III and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence H. Silberman, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the discussions. Others whose names continue to be...

MANASSAS, Va., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is an open letter to President Bush from Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed (Bonus Books, 2006), suggesting 10 persons for consideration as replacements for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: Dear Mr. President: I know you and I have had our differences in the past, but the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales gives you a great opportunity to energize the Republican Party, the conservative movement, and your approval ratings all at the same time. As I explained in a news release, the Democrats will not be appeased by the nomination of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senators urged President Bush on Wednesday to avoid a confirmation battle over the next attorney general by picking a unifying nominee to heal a Justice Department reeling from accusations of playing politics. The White House has dispatched some of its top aides to talk to key lawmakers on Senate and House judiciary committees, seeking names of candidates to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who will step down Sept. 17. Gonzales, who announced his resignation Monday, has been criticized over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Republicans and Democrats alike have challenged Gonzales' credibility over the firings and...

Replacing Gonzales, Bush must select a person of independence and integrity - The attorney general of the United States has a unique role in our government. He or she protects the rule of law -- that is, the attorney general's prime duty is to protect the rights of Americans, not the president.That has been forgotten under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. During his watch, the Justice Department has been tarnished by his putting political priorities above the rule of law.Gonzales has given in to the inevitable and resigned, effective Sept. 17. He will leave a terrible legacy. He has worked to...

"I HAVE LIVED the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days," outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales noted during a press conference Monday. Credit Gonzales for leaving, not with a whimper, but with the knowledge that as rough as Washington gets, no one can take from him the accomplishment of, as the son of a Mexican-born construction worker, becoming America's first Latino attorney general. In his exit, Gonzales showed himself to be, as President Bush would say, "a good man." But as this president tends to learn too late: You can...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush will likely nominate Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, senior administration officials told CNN Monday. Chertoff, 53, previously sat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appeals from New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islands. Before becoming a judge, he was assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's criminal division from 2001 to 2003. Chertoff received his law degree from Harvard University and was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William H. Brennan Jr. in 1979 and 1980. He first stepped into a...

*snip* Attorney General Gonzales Resigns Controversy Plagued Top Law Enforcement Official By PIERRE THOMAS, JASON RYAN, THERESA COOK and JACK DATE Aug. 27, 2007 Gonzales will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. at the Justice Department to announce the resignation; President Bush is also expected to make a statement at 11:30 a.m. *snip* The embattled attorney general had withstood months of criticism from both sides of the aisle in Congress for a variety of missteps. Lawmakers blasted Gonzales after his department fired at least nine U.S. attorneys last year and accused him of misusing terrorist surveillance programs. Most recently...

In San Francisco, even the state's top lawman is not immune to getting his car broken into - even when it's parked next to City Hall. Just ask Attorney General Jerry Brown, who had his official state car broken into while it was left briefly in front of the State Building at Civic Center. "Right across from City Hall, in plain view of the mayor's office," Brown said. "He could have seen it from his office window." Brown said he and his driver hadn't been in the building more than 10 minutes when they came back to find someone had...

JEFFERSON CITY — Chris Koster, a Republican state senator and champion of stem cell research, is expected to announce today that he is switching to the Democratic Party. Koster, a candidate for attorney general next year, will hold news conferences in Columbia, Harrisonville and St. Louis. In a news release, he promised "a speech that may transform the political landscape of Missouri." Koster, of Harrisonville near Kansas City, resigned late Tuesday as chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus. His resignation letter, hand-delivered by Koster's secretary to the office of Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons, gave no explanation. < snip...

I doubt if it will do any good, but I called both my U.S. Senators from Wisconsin to express my outrage that the Senate is wasting time with this stupid no-confidence vote regarding Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. This vote will have no practical result, other than a photo op for the media. The Senate has already voted to confirm Mr. Gonzalez as Attorney General. Perhaps we can each demand that our Senators do what they were elected to do, what they swore to do, to protect and defend the Constitution.

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Majority Democrats in the Senate are forcing their Republican colleagues on the record about whether embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should keep his job. No one is predicting that a symbolic resolution expressing no confidence in Gonzales will survive even the test vote Monday. Most Republicans are likely to vote no, dismissing the whole exercise as a ploy to embarrass President Bush. At a news conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, the last stop on a weeklong visit to Europe, the president reaffirmed his support for Gonzales, a longtime friend and legal adviser. "They can have their votes of...

Crawford, Texas (AP) -- President Bush on Monday called an upcoming Senate vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "pure political theater" and stood by his embattled friend. "He has done nothing wrong," Bush said during a news conference at his ranch. The president rapped Senate Democrats preparing a no-confidence vote on the embattled attorney general by week's end and urged them to get back to legislative business. "I frankly view what's taking place in Washington today as pure political theater," Bush said, sounding exasperated with the furor swirling around his longtime friend. "I stand by Al Gonzales...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee predicted Thursday that the probe of firings of federal prosecutors would lead to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The Justice Department, according to veteran Sen. Arlen Specter, can't properly protect the nation from terrorism or oversee President Bush's no-warrant eavesdropping program with Gonzales at the helm. "I have a sense that when we finish our investigation, we may have the conclusion of the tenure of the attorney general," Specter, R-Pa., said during a committee hearing. "I think when our investigation is concluded, it'll be clear even to...

One theory for Alberto Gonzales's unexpected survival -- and/or, the president's apparent determination to keep him -- comes from a perhaps equally unexpected quarter. Writing in The Weekly Standard, Tod Lindberg, a Fellow at the Hoover Institution, says Gonzales's departure would be a "catastrophic defeat" for the administration. How so?Democrats with good memories, such as former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House Judiciary Committee when it voted to impeach Richard Nixon in 1974, recall with precision the sequence of events that led to the resignation of the 37th president of the United States. In brief: Then-Attorney General Richard...

OKLAHOMA CITY - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday that having more guns on college campuses is not the way to prevent campus violence like the massacre at Virginia Tech. Since the April 16 shootings that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, at Virginia Tech, some have suggested that the carnage might have been lower if a student or professor with a gun had stepped in. "I don’t think that is the answer quite frankly," said Gonzales, who was participating in a governor’s task force to study safety and security on Oklahoma college campuses. Instead, authorities should enforce existing...

California's top law officer -- Attorney General Jerry Brown -- has raised $86,500 since January to fight an election-year lawsuit accusing him of failing to qualify for the statewide office he now holds. According to state disclosure forms filed Monday, Brown tapped three wealthy business executives -- including the president of Whole Foods -- who gave a combined $45,000 to Brown's Public Integrity Legal Defense Fund. The remaining cash was raised from various interest groups such as dentists, correctional officers and the Indian tribe that owns Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln. Brown, a Democrat, is the latest politician to open...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush gave embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a strong vote of confidence on Monday despite scant support for him among key Republicans. "This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence," Bush said. The president said that Gonzales' testimony before skeptical Judiciary Committee senators last week "increased my confidence" in his ability to lead the Justice Department. Separately, a White House spokeswoman said, "He's staying." ....Bush said that while some senators did not like the way Gonzales answered the questions, he continues to back his attorney general. "As the hearings went forward, it was...

FROM THE SENATEDismissal of U.S. Attorneys Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales testifies before a Judiciary Cmte. hearing on the recent firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. Critics have questioned the motivation for the firing and the Atty. Gen.'s role in the process. The original hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, was post-poned because of the Virginia Tech University shootings. Thursday, 9:30 a.m. ET. CSPAN 3

Who tells the boss whom he can hire and fire? Other employees? Is it that way where you work? Maybe, if you're a member of Congress, or are part of a staff that answers to one of them. See, it's an accepted principle in the rarified air of American politics that if you want to maximize your political power, you stack the bureaucracies with your own people, just as fast and deep as you can. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt infamously sought to stack the Supreme Court – which he failed at, praise be to the Almighty – this was already...