For Gonzales, a Familiar Cast at the Table

She also clerked for Luttig and is a graduate of Yale Law School.

· Rachel Brand , 32, currently serves as acting head of the department's influential Office of Legal Policy and is awaiting formal confirmation from the Senate.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota and Harvard Law School, she served as an associate White House counsel and clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

· Michael A. Battle , 49, is the new head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, a liaison-type position that Gonzales intends to turn to in his bid to push for prosecutions of gang violence, obscenity and other crimes, according to aides.

Battle is a former public defender and family court judge who gained national attention as the U.S. attorney in Buffalo prosecuting the "Lackawanna Six," a group of Yemeni men convicted on terrorism charges after admitting they had trained at an al Qaeda camp before the Sept. 11 attacks.

· Timothy E. Flanigan , 51, is not technically a Gonzales aide yet, but he is certain to be one of the most important players at Justice if he is confirmed to replace James B. Comey as deputy attorney general. Flanigan was Gonzales's deputy at the White House from 2001 to 2002 before going to work for Tyco International Inc. as general counsel.

Officials have said Flanigan was closely involved in some of the most controversial decisions linked to Gonzales's office after the Sept. 11 attacks -- including the finding that the Geneva Conventions' protections do not apply to suspected terrorists captured on the battlefield and a since-retracted Justice memo narrowing the definition of what constitutes torture.

Flanigan was part of the litigation team representing the Bush campaign during the 2000 election dispute and previously worked at Justice during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.