With the nomination of retired federal judge Michael Mukasey as Attorney General, the White House seems to realize that its biggest hurdle may be on the right, not the left. The NYT reported today that Bush aides have made “a furious attempt” to “sell the nomination to conservatives. As part of the effort, six “leading conservative thinkers” — it’s unclear who — were invited to the White House for exclusive meetings with Mukasey. He was apparently quizzed on everything from his views on national security matters to his “Republican pedigree.”
The subject came up at yesterday’s press briefing with Press Secretary Dana Perino, who emphasized that the White House has done “lots of outreach.”
Q Were you surprised that it was conservatives who raised the most questions about him?
MS. PERINO: Look, I think that there are people on both sides of the aisle — I heard this morning that there were some left-wing groups are saying that they would oppose him without getting to know him first. Sometimes people just have an initial reaction without getting to know somebody first. So, no, I don’t think I was surprised, but we are continuing to reach out to members of all different types of groups that we usually reach out to, through the Office of Public Liaison.
Q Do you make him available to left-wing groups, as you did to conservatives?
MS. PERINO: That hasn’t happened yet and I wouldn’t anticipate it.
No, I wouldn’t either.
As for Dems, Pat Leahy & Co. aren’t planning to hold Mukasey hostage in order to get sought after documents from the Justice Department, but they also aren’t going to make it too easy.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said his panel would consider Mukasey “in a serious and deliberate fashion.” But he made it clear that Democrats considered access to at least some of the long-sought administration documents as essential to their evaluation of Mukasey’s fitness to lead the Justice Department.
“Our focus now will be on securing the relevant information we need so we can proceed to schedule fair and thorough hearings,” Leahy said. “Cooperation from the White House will be essential in determining that schedule.”
For months, the Bush administration and Democrats have been deadlocked over documents that could shed light on the role the White House played last year in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Democrats view the purge as politically motivated. They also are demanding access to internal Justice Department memos that might provide information on a dispute over whether a pivotal post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism program was legal.
No one is suggesting that Democrats will hold Mukasey’s nomination hostage until the White House capitulates entirely. And many Democrats welcomed the news that Bush — in what they viewed as a conciliatory move — had chosen the retired judge, who is known for his independence and relative bipartisanship. Mukasey is neither a Bush crony nor an administration insider, as Gonzales was.
Still, Democrats said Monday that they expected Bush to scale back his broad assertions of executive privilege at least somewhat.
“I hope that this nomination is a sign that the White House will quickly reach agreement on providing documents and witnesses in connection with our investigation,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). “That is what would be best for the investigation, and it would assure a much less bumpy confirmation process.”
Stay tuned.