Feeling Fine After Collapse, Mukasey Returns to Work
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is returning to work this afternoon after his collapse yesterday evening while giving a speech on national security to the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C.
Mukasey told reporters that he felt great as he left George Washington University Medical Center where he stayed the night for observation and underwent medical tests, ABC reports.
A spokeswoman for the attorney general told reporters this morning that Mukasey is doing well and there is no indication he had a stroke. Since then, the attorney general’s office has released a note sent to all Justice Department employees, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
It reads: “As you may have heard, I collapsed briefly last night at the conclusion of a speech. All tests at the hospital have come back with good results, and I feel fine. Accordingly, I plan to report to the department this afternoon and to continue doing the work I swore to do last November and which it has been an honor to do with you ever since.
“Thank you for your good wishes and your good work. It has been and remains an honor to serve with you.”
Audience members told news organizations that Mukasey was about 20 minutes into a speech defending the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism policies yesterday evening when he began slurring his words. The Associated Press quoted an FBI official who said Mukasey got stuck on a word during the speech, repeated it several times and then “went down hard.”