attorney general

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Republicans Picking a Fight Over Holder

Dems need one GOP vote to move AG pick out of committee

(Newser) - Senate Republicans seem to have settled on attorney-general-designate Eric Holder as their main target for a tough confirmation hearing. Thanks to his liberal leanings and his role in the Clinton administration—especially the controversial 11th-hour Marc Rich pardon—Holder will get a grilling in the Judiciary Committee. Ranking Republican Arlen...

4 Justice Dept. Picks Mark Break From Bush Era

Obama taps Harvard dean, Clinton vets

(Newser) - Barack Obama announced his nominees for four top positions in the Justice Department yesterday, all of whom suggest a sharp turn away from Bush-era legal policies. Among them is Elena Kagan, the dean of Harvard Law School and a Clinton adviser, who is the first woman named solicitor general. In...

Bell, Carter's AG, Dead at 90
 Bell, Carter's AG, Dead at 90 

Bell, Carter's AG, Dead at 90

Bell defanged Jim Crow as appellate court judge

(Newser) - Griffin Bell, a Southerner who opposed racial segregation and led the Justice Department under President Carter, died today at age 90, the New York Times reports. Bell handled damage control as a post-Nixon attorney general, de-politicizing the Justice Department and the FBI. His earlier rulings as an appeals court judge,...

Gonzales: I'm a Casualty of War on Terror

Controversial ex-AG defends White House role

(Newser) - Controversial former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't deserve the flak he got as a high-ranking Bush administration official, he tells the Wall Street Journal. Gonzales was pilloried for his involvement in the government's "war on terror" policies, but he denies drafting the legal opinions that supported harsh interrogation techniques...

Brown Asks Court to Overturn Prop. 8

Calif. AG argues popular vote should not void personal liberties

(Newser) - California’s attorney general has reversed position and asked the state’s supreme court to void the ban on gay marriage enacted by voters in November, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Jerry Brown said in a filing yesterday that Proposition 8 is "inconsistent with the guarantees of individual liberty"...

GOP: Hold Up on Holder
 GOP: Hold Up on Holder 

GOP: Hold Up on Holder

GOP plans a fight over Obama's AG nominee

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are laying a speed bump on Eric Holder’s route to confirmation as attorney general, Politico reports. Joined by a key Democrat, they're objecting to Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy’s plan to fast track Holder's confirmation, scheduling hearings as early as Jan. 8. Republicans note that more...

Holder's Nom Raises Ghost of Rich Pardon

AG pick played key—if inadvertent—role in clearing fugitive

(Newser) - Eric Holder has earned a lot of praise in his career, but there’s one glaring blemish on his resume: the pardon of Marc Rich. Critics say Barack Obama’s attorney general pick was the driving force behind the fugitive’s backdoor pardon, while supporters say he’s an innocent...

Mukasey Released From Hospital

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey is out of the hospital with a clean bill of health after collapsing during a speech last night. The attorney general spent an "uneventful night" at the hospital and passed a battery of tests. Doctors have seen no indication that he suffered a stroke or heart attack,...

Mukasey Collapses During Speech
Mukasey
Collapses
During Speech
updated

Mukasey Collapses During Speech

Attorney general is 'conscious and alert' at DC hospital

(Newser) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech last night and was rushed to a hospital after briefly losing consciousness. He appears to be doing fine now. "The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert," said a Justice Department spokesman after doctors admitted Mukasey to George Washington University...

Holder Is 'Sept. 10' Pick for AG
 Holder Is 'Sept. 10' Pick for AG 
OPINION

Holder Is 'Sept. 10' Pick for AG

Conservative mag urges GOP to vote against Obama's Justice nominee

(Newser) - Eric Holder is “a conventional, check-the-boxes creature of the Left,” the editors of the National Review write of Barack Obama’s reported choice for Attorney General, and his selection reveals a “September 10 mentality” and a “lack of seriousness about the terrorist threat.” They add,...

Beau Biden Declines Dad's Job
 Beau Biden Declines Dad's Job 

Beau Biden Declines Dad's Job

With state's AG saying he plans to keep that job, dance continues over filling Senate seat

(Newser) - Joe Biden’s son put an end to speculation he’ll replace his father in the Senate yesterday, saying he won’t accept any offer and looks forward to returning from Iraq to his position as Delaware’s attorney general, the Wilmington News Journal reports. The vice president-elect has yet...

Obama Taps Holder for AG
 Obama Taps Holder for AG 

Obama Taps Holder for AG

DC lawyer, who has accepted post, oversaw VP selection; confirmation looks likely

(Newser) - Eric Holder, a former US Attorney, judge, and deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, will be Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department, Newsweek reports. Sources say Holder has been considered for the post from the beginning, and he ran the Democrat’s vice-presidential search along with Caroline...

Cuomo Raises Pressure on Merrill
Cuomo Raises Pressure
on Merrill

Cuomo Raises Pressure on Merrill

He says company faces lawsuit over auction-rate securities

(Newser) - With Wachovia locked in to buying back $9 billion in auction-rate securities from clients, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has his sights set next on finance titans Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reports. Cuomo says Merrill faces an "imminent" lawsuit after offering to buy back $10 billion...

No Charges for Biased Justice Officials: Mukasey

Former employees have already faced internal consequences, AG says

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey said today the ex-Justice Department employees who discriminated against candidates in hiring for political reasons will not face criminal charges, the New York Times reports. Prosecution would be inappropriate, the AG said, because the biased hiring practices violated federal civil service law, not criminal law.

In Politicizing Justice, 'Appalling' Betrayal

By injecting politics into hiring, Gonzales & Co. shatter public's faith

(Newser) - New confirmation that the Justice Department used political criteria in hiring for career positions shouldn’t just outrage the maybe-liberals they discriminated against, derailing careers because they were gay, say, or had a wife who was a Democrat, a former Clinton administration official writes in the Washington Post. It’s...

Cautious Mukasey Disappoints Former Backers

It's 'business as usual' in AG's office

(Newser) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey's cautious approach has disappointed one-time backers who hoped for a new direction at the Justice Department, reports the New York Times. He has been reluctant to probe the US attorney firings that triggered predecessor Alberto Gonzales' downfall, and has moved at a snail's pace on issues...

Ohio AG Quits Amid Sex Harassment Scandal

Offices raided by state troopers following complaints

(Newser) - The Ohio attorney general who once vowed to dismantle the state's "culture of corruption" resigned yesterday just hours after a raid on his office by state troopers seeking evidence of illegal activity. Democrat Marc Dann is embroiled in scandal linked to an affair with an aide and was under...

Ohio AG Keeps Job Despite Sex Scandals

Dann had affair, knew of sexual harassment; 4 employees lose jobs

(Newser) - Ohio's scandal-hit AG has admitted having an affair, and apologized for his "human failings" in not cracking down on sexual harassment in his office, but doesn't plan to step down, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Marc Dann didn't name the woman, but his chief scheduler, whom he admitted spent the...

No Joy in Job Hunt for Ex-Attorney General

Employers say thanks, but no thanks to Alberto Gonzales

(Newser) - Ex-attorneys general often enjoy elite private sector jobs, but disgraced Alberto Gonzales is still job-hunting since he resigned last August, the New York Times reports. Lawyers say perjury allegations concerning testimony about eavesdropping and his role in the politically motivated firing of federal prosecutors are the biggest problems with Gonzales'...

Dems Slam Ashcroft for 'Backroom' $52M Contract

Ex-AG denies charges in House hearing

(Newser) - John Ashcroft angrily denied congressional Democrats' allegations today that a lucrative no-bid contract the Justice Department awarded him represents a conflict of interest, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Democrats characterized the contract as a “backroom sweetheart deal” because Ashcroft's ex-subordinates selected his firm to monitor a medical supply company...

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