5 candidates to replace Gonzales emerge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving quickly to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, White House officials are considering five names that “have kind of emerged” as possible candidates to take over the beleaguered Justice Department, according to a senior Bush administration official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak more openly about the process, declined to identify the five contenders who were being looked at “pretty seriously.”

White House officials have consulted more than 20 members of Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — about possible successors to Gonzales, who announced Monday that he is leaving office Sept. 17.

Interviews with current and former Justice Department officials, congressional aides, attorneys and other legal experts yielded as many as 24 names of possible, if highly speculative candidates for the attorney general’s job.

When contacted Tuesday, several contenders asked to remain anonymous and flatly said they did not want the job. Others declined to comment.