Update: Mukasey Returns To Work After Fainting Spell

November 21, 2008 3:51 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey sent a message to Justice department employees on Friday saying he'll be back to work that afternoon. Mukasey collapsed Thursday night while addressing the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C.

" 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."

A department spokesman, Gina Talamona, said in a press briefing that Mukasey is "very alert" and "ready to leave" George Washington University Hospital.

"There is no indication that he suffered a stroke or any heart-related incident. It really appears to have been a fainting spell. He works long days, he is very active, it was a late-night speech under hot lights," Talamona said.

The 67-year old Mukasey collapsed near the end of his speech during the conservative group's annual dinner. He was given emergency first aid by his security detail before being rushed to the hospital, where he was kept overnight.

Mukasey took over the Justice department in 2007 from Alberto Gonzales, the first Hispanic to serve as attorney general. Gonzales resigned the same year amid controversies, including allegations of perjury in connection with a congressional probe on reportedly politically-motivated firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006.