WASHINGTON — President Bush is preparing to nominate Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal district court judge from New York, to succeed Alberto R. Gonzales as U.S. attorney general, people familiar with the president's thinking said late Sunday.
White House officials began on Sunday to distribute background materials on Mukasey to Republican aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee in preparation for confirmation hearings in a month or so, the staffers said.
The White House was preparing for an announcement as early as today. Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto said Bush would reveal his choice "soon."
Mukasey, 66, is a former prosecutor and a respected jurist who in his 18 years on the bench presided over some of the nation's first trials arising from Islamic radicalism. Upon his retirement last year, he rejoined a prominent New York law firm as a senior partner.
In turning to Mukasey, who is largely unknown in Washington political circles, Bush is seen as hoping to avoid a protracted confirmation battle and reduce the controversies and upheaval that have engulfed the Justice Department under Gonzales over the last nine months.
Although Mukasey is considered a conservative, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of Gonzales' fiercest critics, already has suggested that he would support his fellow New Yorker for attorney general, including him in March among a handful of potential candidates for the post who would be qualified "by their reputation and careers."
In a statement Sunday night, Schumer expressed similar sentiments: "While he is certainly conservative, Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House, our most important criteria."
"He's a lot better than some of the other names mentioned, and he has the potential to become a consensus nominee," Schumer said.
Mukasey has been serving as a legal advisor to Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaign and is believed to have been on Giuliani's own short list of attorney general candidates if the former New York mayor wins the Republican nomination and is elected.
Rumors of his possible selection as attorney general triggered concerns among social conservatives over the weekend.
