Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Retired federal judge Michael Mukasey was picked by President George W. Bush to be his third attorney general, a potential consensus choice to restore morale at the Justice Department and head off a confirmation battle with the U.S. Senate.

Bush, the nominee at his side in the White House's Rose Garden, said Mukasey ``has an especially vital role to play in a time of war'' against terrorism and touted his record in handling national security cases. ``Judge Mukasey is clear-eyed about the threat our nation faces,'' Bush said. ``He knows what it takes to fight this war effectively, and he knows how to do it in a manner that's consistent with our laws and our Constitution.''

Mukasey, 66, is a partner at the Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler law firm in New York. Nominated to the bench in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, Mukasey was a judge for 18 years and presided over numerous high-profile cases, including the criminal trial of Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheik convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks.

The choice of Mukasey, who isn't well known in Washington and who was recommended by leading Democrats, shows Bush is trying to bolster relations with lawmakers and tamp down scandals at the department. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Aug. 27 after months of accusations that he misled Congress about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and the handling of an anti-terrorist eavesdropping program.

Conservative Base

The appointment hasn't been universally praised by Bush's conservative base, which backed ex-Solicitor General Theodore Olson for the post. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Olson wouldn't be confirmed if nominated.

Over the weekend, the White House arranged for Mukasey to meet with a half-dozen prominent legal conservatives, a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters in a briefing today. Mukasey handled himself well at the meetings and the attendees were mostly satisfied with the nominee, said the official, who wouldn't identify the participants.

Today, Mukasey pledged to ``pursue justice by enforcing the law with unswerving fidelity to the Constitution.'' He also indicated that he and Bush were on the same page about the U.S.'s war on terror.

During the Cold War, ``our foreign adversaries saw widespread devastation as a deterrent,'' Mukasey said. ``Today, our fanatical enemies see it as a divine fulfillment.''

Pledging Scrutiny

Senate Democrats have pledged to scrutinize any nominee to be the nation's chief law enforcement official to ensure he is independent from the White House and won't impede investigations into the prosecutor dismissals and the spying program.

Reid said today he was ``glad President Bush listened to Congress and put aside his plans to replace Alberto Gonzales with another partisan administration insider.''

While Mukasey ``has strong professional credentials and a reputation for independence,'' Reid cautioned that there would be ``no rush to judgment'' and said the Senate Judiciary Committee must ``carefully examine'' his legal views.

New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, who led a campaign to oust Gonzales, told reporters that an agreement with the White House on ``providing documents and witnesses'' for the investigation of the prosecutor firings ``would assure a much less bumpy confirmation process.''

Still, Schumer declined to make such an agreement a precondition for confirmation. Bush's ``new attitude'' toward Congress ``shown by the Mukasey nomination means that confrontation should not be in the front of anybody's mind right now,'' he said.

Providing Information

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the Judiciary panel's top Republican, said he hoped the confirmation ``will not get bogged down'' in fights over the Bush administration's refusal to provide Congress with information about the firing of U.S. attorneys or the terrorist surveillance program. Setting such ``preconditions'' for confirming Mukasey would delay installing new leadership at the Justice Department, which ``has been in disarray,'' Specter added.

Mukasey has been an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The two practiced together at the Patterson Belknap firm in the late 1970s, and Mukasey's son, Marc, is a partner at the former New York mayor's current law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani.

Silverstein Suit

As a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mukasey issued the first ruling on Jose Padilla's challenge to being held as an enemy combatant. Mukasey found that Padilla, since convicted of terrorism conspiracy charges, could be held by the government without being charged with a crime, though he also granted a defense motion allowing him to meet with his attorneys.

Mukasey oversaw World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein's civil suit against his insurers. Two juries in separate trials decided Silverstein was entitled to up to $4.6 billion to build a new skyscraper on the site of the twin towers destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Austin Campriello, a New York lawyer who has represented clients before the judge, said Mukasey ``is a real lawyer. He will serve the country and the president well.''

Campriello recalled that, during a two-month-long trial before Mukasey, the judge required constant protection from U.S. Marshals. ``It takes a huge amount of guts to continue those terrorism cases,'' said Campriello.

Criminal Prosecutor

A graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School, Mukasey re-joined Patterson Belknap in 2006. He worked at the firm before becoming a judge in 1988. Prior to entering private practice, Mukasey was a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in New York, rising to become chief of the Official Corruption Unit.

Gonzales, who replaced John Ashcroft in February 2005, left the Justice Department at the end of last week. Today, Bush said that the agency's departing Civil Division chief, Peter Keisler, will take over as acting head of the department until a successor is confirmed.

Solicitor General Paul Clement, the administration's top courtroom lawyer, had been slated to be acting attorney general. Bush said Clement needs time to prepare for the new Supreme Court term, which begins Oct. 1.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 17, 2007 14:10 EDT