JURIST - Paper Chase: DOJ considered firing quarter of US Attorneys: WashPost

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) considered replacing at least 26 of 93 US Attorneys between February 2005 and December 2006, a much higher number than previously acknowledged by officials, according to a report in Thursday's Washington Post. Documents not publicly disclosed indicate that Kyle Sampson [DOJ press release; JURIST news archive], former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile], compiled at least three separate lists of US attorneys that were considered for removal. The Washington Post has more.

In a related development in the US Attorney firings scandal [JURIST news archive], Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], sent a letter [PDF text] to Gonzales Wednesday demanding he respond to a May 2 subpoena [JURIST report] issued for all of White House political adviser Karl Rove's e-mails "in the possession, custody or control of the Department of Justice." The letter rebuked Gonzales for failing to comply with the subpoena before the return date, as well as his failure to provide "in writing the specific reasons for not producing any responsible documents, including any objections to the subpoenas or privileged claimed by the [DOJ]." Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Hertling responded with a letter [PDF text] to Leahy, saying that the DOJ's Office of Information and Privacy had conducted e-mail searches in the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, and included several emails located during the search. Bloomberg has more.

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