Mukasey has been advising the Rudy Giuliani campaign and President Bush has tapped him for Attorney General. As a federal court judge for the Southern District of New York, Mukasey had heard and ruled on several key terrorism cases, including the Sheikh Omar Rahman case (WTC bombing and related cases), and also ruled on the Jose Padilla enemy combatant status cases. This is an interesting pick since it suggests that the Administration will continue to focus closely on the counterterrorism angle at the Department of Justice.
However, Paul at Powerline wonders whether Mukasey was picked because the Administration moved too slowly to proffer Ted Olsen as the nominee enabling opponents to preemptively move against Olsen.
Paul is correct to note that the Administration has been quite uneven in selecting nominees for legal positions - whether it was Attorney General or for the Supreme Court.
It will also be interesting to see how Sen. Schumer (D-NY) deals with the confirmation process given that he's made positive comments about Mukasey in the past. He'll have to watch what he says in the confirmation hearings since what he has said can and should be used against him by his fellow Senators.
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