Mukasey's Independent Streak May Haunt Bush

WASHINGTON — By all accounts, Michael Mukasey is not someone who is easily intimidated.

As a federal judge, he stared down convicted terrorists. He presided over a fiercely independent Manhattan federal court nicknamed the "Sovereign District of New York." He is little interested in politics or politicians. And if confirmed as attorney general, his independent streak could pose problems for President Bush.

With his reputation already established and a gig at the Justice Department likely to last no more than a year or so, Mr. Mukasey, at 66, has little to lose. As a result, observers expect him to view his role much differently than did his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales, who developed a reputation as a loyal advocate for Bush administration legal positions and policies.

Although Mr. Mukasey would be in the Bush Cabinet and expected to be part of the team, those who know him say he would not hesitate to bring his considerable legal heft to bear if he believed Mr. Bush was not following the law. This could cause Mr. Bush some uncomfortable moments, especially in dealing with Congress in the ongoing probes of the Justice Department and White House.

"He is not going to be pushed around," a Yale Law School professor who was a classmate with Mr. Mukasey in the 1960s, Bruce Ackerman, said. "He is very much a serious judge. The administration cannot afford to antagonize him."

Some who have known Mr. Mukasey for years wonder if Mr. Bush really knows what he is getting into.

"If I were George W. Bush, I never would have picked Michael Mukasey," a former colleague of Mr. Mukasey at the U.S. attorney office in Manhattan, Edward Shaw, said.

On Friday, Mr. Bush officially launched the confirmation process, sending Mr. Mukasey's name to the Senate to succeed Mr. Gonzales, his longtime friend and adviser.

A former prosecutor himself and a judge for nearly two decades, Mr. Mukasey is widely viewed as a man of integrity who has, despite his conservative leanings, won early support from Democrats as well as from Republicans.

Despite the positive initial response to his nomination, Mr. Mukasey may face tough questions from Democrats about his conservative views on national security versus civil liberties. The Senate has not yet scheduled confirmation hearings; the Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Leahy, a Democrat of Vermont, has threatened to delay the hearings if the White House continues to withhold documents and testimony related to the committee's probe of fired U.S. attorneys.

In meetings with lawmakers last week, Mr. Mukasey made it clear that he would fire any Justice Department employee who discussed sensitive cases with anyone at the White House. Under Mr. Gonzales, a pipeline developed between Justice and White House officials that critics believe opened the way to abuse.

He is also likely to face demands from Democrats to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether crimes were committed in connection with the firing in 2006 of nine U.S. attorneys. An internal Justice Department probe into the matter is already under way.