Whitehouse: Gonzales hurt Justice Dept.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse yesterday said he was "cautiously optimistic" about President Bush's choice to replace Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general: retired federal Judge Michael B. Mukasey.

Whitehouse - a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold Mukasey's confirmation hearings - spoke at the Roger Williams University School of Law as part of a program marking the 220th birthday of the U.S. Constitution.

"Not only is it Constitution Day," Whitehouse told the audience, "it is also the first Gonzales-free day."
Gonzales resigned late last month amid controversy over the firing of U.S. Attorneys and allegations that he may have perjured himself when he testified before Congress. Gonzales left the Justice Department on Friday, and Mr. Bush nominated Mukasey yesterday.

Before his speech, Whitehouse told reporters that Mukasey "seems to be well qualified, and he does not seem to be the kind of individual who would let his ideology run away with him and affect his ability to run an independent Department of Justice."

But Whitehouse emphasized that "very serious issues" remained regarding congressional oversight, such as getting documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors. He said he wanted to make sure that Mukasey "understands how important it is that the Justice Department be rebuilt and how serious the damage is." Also, he said he wanted to ensure Mukasey was "not following the Bush line that this was just a political attack on Gonzales, that there's nothing really wrong there."

"If he gets those things - and the hearing process will show that - then I think he's got a very good chance to be our next attorney general," Whitehouse said. "But a lot depends on the hearings."

Mukasey, 66, was appointed to the federal bench by former President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and he retired last year to go into private practice. He worked for 19 years as a federal judge in New York, becoming chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Whitehouse said Mukasey appeared to be a better choice than Theodore B. Olsen, the former solicitor general favored by some conservatives. "The purpose right now that the department needs to achieve is convincing the American public that it will do the right thing first and the political thing second," he said. "So somebody who has been as closely associated with President Bush and has been as involved in political matters as Ted Olsen had a lot to explain."

By contrast, Mukasey is "coming off a court where he served for a long time through many administrations with considerable distinction," Whitehouse said. So Mukasey "starts with a better feel for his independence, and I think that's an important starting point."

During his speech, Whitehouse talked about the immense power wielded by federal prosecutors. He quoted from former attorney general and Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, saying, "The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty and reputation than any other person in America. This power must be used with great discretion and free of political interference."

As a former Rhode Island attorney general and U.S. Attorney, Whitehouse said he understands what Jackson meant, and that "those words ring especially true today."

Whitehouse said the Senate Judiciary Committee's probe into "the politicization" of the Justice Department "revealed interference unmatched really since the Watergate era that has caused people to question the impartiality of Department of Justice attorneys."

Whitehouse said Gonzales "never got on board with the idea that he was now representing the people of the United States - and not the president."

Aside from that, Whitehouse said, "there was specific damage done to the department."

The audience saw video of Whitehouse grilling Gonzales over the sharp increase in the number of White House officials who are allowed, under the Bush administration, to initiate discussions with the Justice Department about ongoing cases or investigations.

Under the Clinton administration, only the president, the vice president, two other White House officials and three Justice Department officials were allowed to have such discussions, but under the Bush administration, 937 people can have such discussions, including 417 White House officials, according to the senator's office.

Whitehouse said the president's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, had been among those White House officials who could contact Justice Department officials directly. And he said it's clear that the greatest risk of "politicization" comes from the White House.

"Governors can make phone calls, but no one really pays attention," Whitehouse said. "The Bristol [Town] Council - not a chance. Members of the Senate - maybe, but not really. When it's the president, the person who brought you there, that's the avenue of greatest peril."

Whitehouse also talked about the value of the Justice Department's career attorneys, saying, "They are like a deep keel on a boat that keeps it going straight and steady even when the winds are blowing."

But under the Bush administration, he said, "there was enormous damage done to the career department people." He said some were "told to get out" and "offered humiliating positions if they didn't."

"Something was done to the operation of the Department of Justice that harmed it as an institution and that diminished its capacity to resist the political tides and winds," Whitehouse said. So, he said, "It's not enough for a new attorney general to come in and be clean and honorable and independent."

Whitehouse also called for a "thoughtful damage report" that would be done by a bipartisan group with Justice Department experience "so we can assure ourselves that the job that needs to be done of repairing this great institution will be done."

The audience also heard from Roger Williams law Professors Jared A. Goldstein and David M. Zlotnick, who both worked in the Justice Department before joining the faculty.

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