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By Terry Frieden
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The simmering feud between the Bush Administration and the American Bar Association flared Thursday when Justice and White House officials blasted the ABA for its sharply divergent views in rating a nominee to be a federal judge.

At least ten members of the ABA's 15-member standing committee on the judiciary concluded that Paul Cassell is "well qualified" to be a U.S. District Court judge in Utah. But the ABA says at least one member of the committee concluded that he was merely "qualified," and at least one more concluded he was "not qualified."

Senior Administration officials pounced on the divergent views and attacked the ABA committee for anyone concluding Cassell is not qualified.

"The rating on its face is inexplicable in that a substantial majority of the Committee found him "well qualified" yet a minority somehow found him "not qualified," said Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh. "The ABA has an obligation to be forthright and explain this decision," Dinh said.

Another administration official agreed, and called into question the ABA process of not explaining such inconsistencies.

But the Chair of the ABA Committee, Roscoe Trimmier, tells CNN he views the Committee vote as entirely understandable.

"The committee members bring their different perspectives and backgrounds to the issue," Trimmier said.

The Boston attorney said that like Supreme Court Justices, the committee members can look at the same information and arrive at very different conclusions.

"They bring their conscience and judgment to the candidate's professional competence, temperament and integrity," Trimmier said.

To date the ABA has rated 28 Bush administration nominees and all have been found to be qualified or well qualified. Only one had previously received a minority "not qualified" rating.

But this is the first time that committee members had such a wide difference of views.

"I admit this is the first time this administration has received a three-way split from the committee," Trimmier said.

Casell is a law professor with strong ties to Sen. Orren Hatch (R-Utah), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee which must approve the judicial nominations.

The White House early this year ended the long-standing veto power given to the ABA committee, claiming it was too politically liberal to be objective in its judicial ratings. However, Democrats who control the Senate Judiciary Committee say they will not vote on any nominee until the ABA Committee has provided its assessment of the candidate's qualifications.