Bush Promises New DOJ Appointments
Speaking today at a swearing-in ceremony for Attorney General Michael Mukasey, President Bush promised he will announce Thursday nominations to fill some of the dozen vacant Justice Department leadership positions.
Mukasey was officially sworn in last week, and today’s occasion was ceremonial, the Associated Press reports.
Former attorneys general John Ashcroft and Richard Thornburgh attended the ceremony, but Alberto Gonzales was not there. Bush defended Gonzales, who had resigned amid controversy, calling him a man of integrity and decency. The crowd, mostly made up of Justice Department employees, responded with loud applause, the Washington Post reports.
The applause grew louder before Mukasey took the oath from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
“My job involves not only an oath, but also a pledge, which I now give you,” Mukasey said. “And that is to use all of the strength of mind and body that I have to help you to continue to protect the freedom and the security of the people of this country, and their civil rights and liberties, through the neutral and evenhanded application of the Constitution and the laws enacted under it.”
