Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapses during speech

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech in Washington Thursday evening.

Mukasey had been delivering remarks on combating international terrorism to the Federalist Society’s annual meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. A full copy of the speech he was to deliver is available on Marketwatch here.

According to the Moderate Voice, a clip of Mr. Mukasey at the podium shows him wearing his glasses and in full formal business dress, talking away and suddenly slowing down and pausing. His head begins to lower toward his chest and the tape goes black just before he fell to the floor.

Eyewitnesses said Mukasey “started struggling with [his] speech, slurring” just before he collapsed. After collapsing, some audience members started praying, fearing a stroke.

The current condition of Mukasey is not known at the time of writing.

Michael Mukasey is the 81st Attorney General of the United States, and followed from Alberto Gonzales. Mukasey served for 18 years as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, six of those years as Chief Judge.

More when we have it.

Update: Michael Mukasey “is conscious, conversant and alert” according to a Justice Department spokesman. The attorney general was being kept overnight at George Washington University Hospital for observation

(img: NY Mag)