Washington, D.C. ? With briefcase in hand and a smile on his face, Attorney General Michael Mukasey returned to work Friday after collapsing during a speech the night before and spurring a 14-hour scare about his health.

A Justice Department spokeswoman blamed the 67-year-old’s dramatic and public fall on a fainting spell.

Determined to prove his fitness, Mukasey checked out of George Washington University Hospital shortly after noon, telling reporters he felt “excellent.” Arriving at the Justice Department a few minutes later with his wife, Susan, Mukasey climbed out of his security van unassisted and showing no signs of pain or discomfort.

In an e-mail to the department’s 108,000 employees, Mukasey said he would “continue doing the work I swore to do last November” when he became President Bush’s third attorney general.