Dems warn Bush on attorney general pick 2 key senators say confirmation depends on getting details about wiretaps, torture

U.S. President George W. Bush announces his nominee for the new U.S. Attorney General, retired New York judge Michael Mukasey, (L), in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington September 17, 2007. Mukasey, 66, would replace Alberto Gonzales, who resigned last month after he became embroiled in controversy over the firings of nine federal prosecutors. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES) 0 less U.S. President George W. Bush announces his nominee for the new U.S. Attorney General, retired New York judge Michael Mukasey, (L), in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington September 17, 2007. ... more Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Dems warn Bush on attorney general pick 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Two Democratic senators warned Monday that they might delay confirming President Bush's choice to be the next attorney general unless the White House turns over documents relating to several investigations, a move that could provoke the kind of confirmation fight the Bush administration was hoping to avoid.

Bush announced the selection of Michael Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York who has presided over several high-profile terrorism trials, during a morning Rose Garden ceremony. He urged the Senate to confirm Mukasey promptly as the nation's 81st attorney general, succeeding Alberto Gonzales, who resigned last month under withering attacks from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

"Judge Mukasey is clear-eyed about the threat our nation faces," Bush said, with the 66-year-old former jurist by his side. "As a judge and a private lawyer, he's written on matters of constitutional law and national security. He knows what it takes to fight this war effectively."

If confirmed, Mukasey will take over a Justice Department that has been burdened by the weight of congressional inquiries into the firing of federal prosecutors and the administration's domestic wiretapping program. In brief remarks after Bush spoke, he pledged to give the department's lawyers "the support and the leadership they deserve."

At a time when Democrats are bitterly at odds with the administration over the war in Iraq, the selection of Mukasey - a Washington outsider who met Bush for the first time during an hourlong interview at the White House on Sept. 1 - seemed to signal that the administration is looking to move past the partisanship that characterized Gonzales' tenure.

But two Democrats who will have a powerful say over whether Mukasey gets confirmed - Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Chuck Schumer of New York - pledged to use the nomination to pressure the White House into turning over information that the Senate Judiciary Committee has been seeking on domestic wiretapping and the treatment of military detainees.

"All I want is the material we need to ask some questions about the former attorney general's conduct, on torture and warrantless wiretapping, so we can legitimately ask, 'Here's what was done in the past - what will you do?' " said Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold Mukasey's confirmation hearings.

Whether that was a negotiating tactic or a threat that could turn into an all-out battle, was unclear. Leahy did say he has told White House counsel Fred Fielding that the nomination cannot go forward without the information, and that "cooperation with the White House would be central" to scheduling hearings on Mukasey.

Schumer, for his part, seemed to take the role of mediator between Leahy and the White House. On Sunday, Schumer - who first floated Mukasey's name with the White House as a potential Supreme Court nominee four years ago - praised Mukasey as a potential consensus nominee. On Monday, he said he had told Fielding that the White House would have to resolve Leahy's concerns.

"Chairman Leahy's concern is genuine," Schumer said in an interview. "He strongly defends the prerogatives of the committee. I stressed that to both Fielding and Mukasey. It would be much better for everyone concerned if they could reach an agreement."

The White House is trying to cast the Mukasey confirmation as urgent and is calling on the Senate to put him in place at the Justice Department before lawmakers leave for their next recess, on Oct. 8.

Most Democrats reacted with caution Monday. Several, like Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, said Mukasey will have to prove that he is independent of Bush and that he can repair the damage done to the department by Gonzales, whom many Democrats regarded as a crony of the president.

Others, like Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, sounded surprised by what they regarded as an unusual White House overture. Biden said he was "pleased that President Bush put aside his old habits and picked an outside professional to nominate as attorney general, rather than a member of his own circle."