Mukasei, Michael

Born July 28, 1941 in the Bronx (New York), in 1959 he graduated from Yeshiva in New York, in 1963 - Columbia University , in 1967 received a law degree at Yale University . From 1967 to 1972, he had private legal practice in New York, then received the position of assistant federal attorney in Manhattan . In 1976 he returned to the practice of law (this time at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler), where a future New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani , whom they met while still working at the prosecutor’s office, got a job a year later ^[1] .

On July 27, 1987, President Reagan proposed the candidacy of Mukasey for the position of federal judge in the Southern District of New York; on November 6, 1987, the Senate approved him, on November 9, he took office and held it until September 2006, when he resigned. In 2000-2006 he was the chief judge of the district ^[2] . As a federal judge in New York, Mukasey conducted several important processes, including the conviction of Omar Abdel Rahman in 1996 (in the bombing case of February 26, 1993 at the New York World Trade Center ), and in 2003 he conducted preliminary court hearings in the case of (he was later convicted of preparing a “dirty bomb” explosion ). Due to the particular danger of the cases under consideration, Mukasei received round-the-clock protection of the US Marshals service ^[3] .

In 2007, President Bush proposed to the Senate the candidacy of Mukasey for the post of Attorney General of the United States after the resignation of Alberto Gonzalez in September, and on November 8 he was approved by a majority of 53 votes to 40. The decision was made only after long discussions caused by the candidate’s attitude to the problem of water torture - during the hearing, Mukasey called the practice of imitating drowning “disgusting,” but said that he was not sure whether it could be considered torture ^[2] . On November 9, he took the oath of office and took office ^[4] . Even during the discussion of the candidacy of Mukasey, White House officials said that if the Senate approves in his new position, he will have to refrain from participating in cases concerning his old friend and presidential candidate Rudolf Giuliani , as well as their mutual friend, former commissioner New York City Police during the time of Mayor Giuliani, Bernard Kerik , who at that time was under investigation on suspicion of corruption ^[5] . In February 2009, after taking office of President Obama , Eric Holder was appointed the new Attorney General ^[6] .

In 2014, Mukasei published an article criticizing President Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo prison and justifying the need to keep it as one of the most effective measures to deter international terrorism ^[7] .

Former translator of the court in the Southern District of New York, Valery Schukin, who worked with Michael Mukasey (the Russian-speaking district of Brighton Beach was part of the jurisdiction of this court), claims that Mukasey’s father was born in the Russian Empire in the town of Baranavichy in the territory of present Belarus and subsequently emigrated to the United States ^[8] . In 1974, Michael Mukasey married Susan Bernstock, the spouses have a daughter, Jessica Mukasey-Barkoff and son Susan from their first marriage, Mark Saroff-Mukasey ^[9] .

• Anthony G. Craine. Michael Mukasey Encyclopedia Britannica. Date of treatment October 1, 2015.