Bush announced yesterday that he intended to nominate James B. Comey, the United States attorney in Manhattan, to be deputy attorney general.
Mr. Comey, who has served as the United States attorney for just under two years, has built a strong record in prosecutions involving corporate crime and terrorism. His office has been handling cases involving Martha Stewart and executives from Adelphia Communications and WorldCom, and it has helped to prosecute Zacarias Moussaoui, who was charged in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Comey, 42, would assume the No. 2 job under Attorney General John Ashcroft at a time of political tumult because of the investigation the Justice Department announced this week into allegations that Bush administration officials violated the law by leaking the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer. Democrats in Congress have called for Mr. Ashcroft to remove himself from the investigation because of his close ties to senior advisers to Mr. Bush.
One of those Democrats, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, praised the White House announcement. "Jim Comey is a class-A prosecutor and I believe he will make a fine deputy attorney general," Senator Schumer said. "My initial reaction is to be supportive of his nomination."
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/nyregion/04COME.html?ex=1065931200&en=054bd00c9c131a87&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE