Mukasey's son, Marc L. Mukasey, leads the
white-collar criminal defense practice in the New York office
of Bracewell & Giuliani. The Mukaseys are justice advisers
to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, with Mukasey himself
also having made campaign contributions to Giuliani for
president.
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During his tenure on the bench, Mukasey presided
over the criminal prosecution of Omar Abdel Rahman and El
Sayyid Nosair, whom he sentenced to life in prison for a
plot to blow up the United Nations and other Manhattan landmarks
uncovered during an investigation into the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing.
Mukasey also heard the trial of Jose Padilla,
ruling that the U.S. citizen and alleged terrorist could
be held as an enemy combatant, but was entitled to see his
lawyers. Mukasey also was the judge in the litigation between
developer Larry
Silverstein and several insurance companies
arising from the destruction of the World Trade Center,
a case which ultimately ended with a federal court deciding
that insurers owed a maximum of $4.6 billion, more than
the $3.5 billion term of the insurance policy.
"He knows what it takes to fight this
war [on terror] effectively," Bush
told the press today, referring to Mukasey's
experience in terrorism cases.
"Thirty-five years ago, our foreign adversaries
saw widespread devastation as a deterrent. Today, our fanatical
enemies see it as a divine fulfillment," Mukasey said,
outlining his intentions as Attorney General.
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Bruce Fein, a former deputy attorney general
in the Reagan administration, has said Mukasey is "not
the right person for the job."
"I do not believe, despite certainly substantial credentials,
that he has the national stature and strength in Congress
to resist White House overtures to insist that he bend the
law to assist the political agenda," said Fein, a constitutional
and international lawyer with Bruce Fein & Associates
and the Lichfield Group.
Other conservative groups have also voiced concern over
Mukasey's record on abortion.
President Bush's nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as
Attorney General has written op ed pieces and given speeches
praising the virtues of the Patriot Act, and is also a contributor
and legal advisor to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.