Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's choice of former judge Michael Mukasey to be his new attorney general granted his Democratic opponents their wish -- and undercut their chances to wage a nomination fight.

Bush faced Democratic opposition to the potential nomination of Theodore Olson, a favorite of conservatives. So the president instead chose someone recommended by one of his harshest critics, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York.

The move blunts the Democrats' ability to score political points during the confirmation process, or to pry loose White House secrets over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and domestic surveillance of suspected terrorists.

``It doesn't mean that finding out what happened isn't important,'' said Schumer, who led the fight to force Alberto Gonzales to resign as attorney general. ``But that's not going to be the goal here. Confrontation should not be in the front of anybody's mind right now.''

Bush hopes the Senate will confirm Mukasey by Oct. 8, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters today.

Congressional Democrats have been threatening a battle over White House claims of executive privilege to shield confidential documents. Democrats suspect the material might reveal that Karl Rove, formerly Bush's top political adviser, masterminded the firing of the U.S. attorneys.

Warrantless Wiretapping

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said yesterday the panel now will settle for material about interrogation of suspected terrorists and warrantless wiretapping to help prepare senators for questioning Mukasey.

While the committee has issued a broad subpoena for the material, Leahy said he would accept a narrower group of documents for Mukasey's confirmation hearing.

``All I want is the material we need to ask some questions about the former attorney general's conduct,'' Leahy told reporters, referring to Gonzales. Earlier this year, Leahy threatened to hold up confirmation of Gonzales's successor to press the administration to produce more documents.

Lawmakers need enough information to be able to ask Mukasey whether he agrees with the ``flawed legal policies of his predecessor,'' Leahy said. Prompt production of the material sought by lawmakers would help ensure that the next attorney general gets ``an overwhelming vote'' of support in the Senate, he said. ``That is never going to happen unless you got all the material you need.''

`At His Word'

White House Counsel Fred Fielding told Leahy ``he was sure we could work out material that would satisfy'' the committee, Leahy said. ``I take him at his word.''

Bush invoked executive privilege to bar the testimony of Rove, 56, and other aides. The House has set the stage for a legal showdown by citing former White House Counsel Harriet Miers for contempt of Congress after she disobeyed a subpoena.

A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said Bush hopes Democrats won't turn the confirmation proceeding into a political battle over the U.S. prosecutors because a new attorney general is urgently needed.

Republicans sought to underscore the political dangers of trying to couple Mukasey's confirmation with the dispute over the confidential documents.

``Now is the chance for our Democratic colleagues to prove they were serious when they cried out for new leadership at the Justice Department,'' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said.

A fact sheet released by Republicans asserted that that average length of time to confirm an attorney general over the last 20 years is three weeks.

`Day In and Day Out'

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said confirmation of a new attorney general must take precedence over the congressional investigations that he supports.

``Those are all very, very important matters,'' he said. ``But I don't think they are as important as what's happening'' at the agency ``day in and day out.''

The top three positions at the Justice Department are being filled on an acting basis, and ``the vacancies and the disarray of the department make it an unusual situation,'' Specter said.

Besides Gonzales's resignation, the controversy over the firings prompted the resignation of the deputy attorney general and the withdrawal of Bush's nominee to be associate attorney general.

Conservatives' Disappointment

The choice of Mukasey disappointed conservative Republican activists who favored someone like Olson, 67. Curtis Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, a group that lobbies for conservative judicial nominees, acknowledged a ``slight letdown'' over the Mukasey nomination.

``I don't know if he's a true-blooded conservative,'' Levey said. ``But on the war on terror, nobody can fault him.''

Bush said Mukasey, 66, who presided over the trial of a blind Egyptian cleric and others convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks in the early 1990s, ``is clear-eyed about the threat our nation faces.''

In brief remarks following his introduction, Mukasey said that during the Cold War, ``our foreign adversaries saw widespread devastation as a deterrent. Today our fanatical enemies see it as a divine fulfillment.''

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 18, 2007 10:27 EDT