US attorney general collapses

2008-11-21 07:34

Washington - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech and lost consciousness, a Justice Department official said.

The 67-year-old Mukasey was rushed on Thursday night to George Washington University Hospital, where his condition was not immediately known.

Mukasey was delivering a speech to the Federalist Society at a Washington hotel when "he just started shaking and he collapsed", said Associate Attorney General Kevin O'Connor. "They're very concerned."

Mukasey was 15 to 20 minutes into his speech about the Bush administration's successes in combating terrorism when he began slurring his words. He collapsed and lost consciousness, said O'Connor, the department's No 3 official, who was travelling at the time and was alerted to what had occurred.

Mukasey was noticeably shaking during his speech before he collapsed shortly before 22:20 EST (03:20 GMT on Friday). His security detail called for an ambulance.

Mukasey was on the stage for 10 minutes being attended to by his FBI detail before medics arrived, according to a Justice Department official who was there. Mukasey was still breathing at the time, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to talk to the media.

An FBI official said Mukasey got stuck on a word during his speech to the conservative legal group, repeated it several times and then "went down hard".

A senior law-enforcement said Mukasey appeared to be talking when he was taken away. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the situation.

He was conscious during part of the ambulance ride to hospital, the official said.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said President George W Bush was informed about Mukasey's collapse.

"The president has him in his thoughts and will be kept apprised and hopes that he will be back up and at 'em again soon."

O'Connor said about an hour after Mukasey collapsed that the last information he had was that the attorney general was alert and conscious and speaking.

- AP