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Name: Mukasey, Michael
Current Position: Former Attorney General
A native of the Bronx, New York, Michael Mukasey served as the United States Attorney General from November 2007 until the end of the administration of George W. Bush. Mukasey graduated from Columbia College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal.
Mukasey served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1976 in New York. From 1975 to 1976 he also served as chief of his district’s Official Corruption Unit. From 1976 to 1987 he was an associate, and then member, of the law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan appointed Mukasey to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where he served until 2006, the last six years as chief judge. During that time, Judge Mukasey presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 co-defendants charged with conspiring to blow up numerous sites in New York.
After retiring from the bench, Mukasey returned to Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler in the firm’s litigation group.
Like his predecessors, Ashcroft and Gonzales, Mukasey was a source of controversy. His remarks regarding the legality of waterboarding (see Controversies) almost derailed his confirmation, and while testifying before the Senate, he almost implicated President Bush in the torture scandal. It was also revealed that while serving as a federal judge, Mukasey took advantage of the US Marshals charged with protecting his safety by having them take out the garbage, carry groceries and tote golf clubs.
US attorney general hints at Bush's permission for torture (by Elana Schor, Guardian)
2005 Complaint: Judges Used Marshals Service for Chores (Associated Press)