Free Republic

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A retired federal judge is a leading candidate to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose last day on the job was Friday, two sources familiar with the search for a successor told CNN on Saturday... Ironically, nominating Mukasey could cause Bush trouble from the conservative right.In 2005, the liberal group Alliance for Justice listed Mukasey among those it considered "consensus" choices for possible Bush Supreme Court picks. In 2003, liberal Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a leading liberal voice on judicial nominations, listed Mukasey as an acceptable Supreme Court choice in a letter he sent...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard of Greenville has been appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The court, commonly referred to as America's Secret Court, considers requests for surveillance and physical search orders from the U.S. Department of Justice and various U.S. intelligence agencies. This court has nationwide jurisdiction to authorize the U.S. government to conduct electronic surveillance and physical searches for national security purposes when the target is a foreign power or when an individual is acting as an agent for a foreign power. The Supreme Court Chief Justice...