Sen. Schumer has buyers remorse with AG Mukasey [View All]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/washington/23mukasey.html?ref=us

WASHINGTON — When President Bush tapped Michael B. Mukasey to lead the scandal-plagued Justice Department nine months ago, Senator Charles E. Schumer could not say enough good things about his fellow New Yorker. Mr. Schumer ran out of time in ticking off Mr. Mukasey’s accomplishments at his Senate hearing, and the senator’s vote of support ensured his confirmation as attorney general.

Yet at a hearing this month, face to face with his pick for attorney general, Mr. Schumer, a Democrat, did not hide his disappointment in what he saw as Mr. Mukasey’s reluctance to move more aggressively in investigating accusations that the Justice Department had brought politically inspired prosecutions against Democratic politicians.

Mr. Schumer was still fuming a short time later as he went to the Senate floor for a vote. “That was terrible,” Mr. Schumer told a colleague privately in assessing Mr. Mukasey’s performance, an official privy to the conversation said.

The shift in political support underscores the problems facing Mr. Mukasey, a retired federal judge, as he works to restore the credibility of a department that was tainted under his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales. So far, the results appear mixed.