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From Kelli Arena
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will begin meeting this week with candidates to replace Louis Freeh as FBI director, administration officials told CNN Tuesday.

Among the candidates is George Terwilliger, a deputy attorney general in the first Bush administration and a lawyer for George W. Bush during the Florida presidential recount. A former U.S. attorney for Vermont, Terwilliger specialized in white-collar crime and terrorism during his Justice Department service.

Also meeting with Ashcroft will be Robert Mueller, a former acting deputy attorney general who is now the U.S. attorney in San Francisco. Mueller previously headed the homicide division at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington and was chosen by the former Bush administration to run the Justice Department's criminal division.

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Although others are being considered, administration sources told CNN Terwilliger and Mueller were the only known contenders at this time.

The Justice Department source told CNN it is highly unlikely a new FBI director will be nominated and approved before Freeh departs in June.