Documents on sacking US Attorneys released

Published: Tuesday March 13, 2007
Michael RostonPublished: Tuesday March 13, 2007

Documents released to RAW STORY today by the House Judiciary Committee show a Justice Department concerned with "political upheaval" over plans to "push some" United States Attorneys out of office who were dubbed "holdovers."

The e-mails were written to various Bush administration staffers by Kyle Sampson, the former Chief of Staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Sampson stepped down Monday after reports of his involvement in helping to remove US Attorneys from office surfaced.

The e-mails start as far back as Aug. 2006 and discuss removing US Attorneys from office for a variety of reasons. A Sep. 13, 2006, e-mail, sent to former White House Counsel and onetime Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers makes note of five US Attorneys "we now should consider pushing out," as well as one "in the process of being pushed out."

Sampson first makes note of his political concerns about the tactic in this message, saying "I am only in favor of executing...if we really are ready and willing to put in the time necessary to select candidates and get them appointed." The message also refers to sidestepping "home-State senators" and carrying out the plan "at less political cost to the White House."

Four days later, Miers promises to follow up. In her original Sep. 13 query to Sampson, she asks for "current thinking on holdover US attorneys."

On Sept. 20, Brent Ward, current head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, wrote to Sampson and complained, "We have two US attorneys who are unwilling to take good cases we have presented to them." Sampson says replacing them should go through "normal channels."

Nearly two months later, on Nov. 15, Sampson writes to White House staffers again, including Miers, and repeats his concerns with "political upheaval that could result" and refers to circulating it "to Karl's shop," presumably referring to White House political adviser Karl Rove.

This e-mail includes an attachment with a detailed strategy plan for forcing out six US Attorneys in Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, Washington, and New Mexico; contacting senators (or the home-state Bush "political-lead" if there is no Republican senator in the state in question); preparations for "political upheaval;" and selection of "interim" candidates, which is followed by the normal US Attorney selection process.

The final e-mails then detail the execution and immediate aftermath resulting from the plan.
The documents are available at this link in PDF format. More will be added as they become available.

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