WASHINGTON — Long before they fired a group of U.S. attorneys, senior White House and Justice Department officials were already discussing some politically connected insiders for their replacements, documents released Friday show.
The documents, turned over to congressional investigators in a widening probe of the firings, undercut earlier claims that the prosecutors were terminated for purely performance reasons.
They also show that the administration prized attorneys who shared its Republican ideology. For instance, the personnel charts of some prosecutors note their membership in the conservative Federalist Society.
Starting in January of last year -- 11 months before most of the terminations were carried out -- Justice Department officials were deep in confidential discussions with the White House over who might get the prized political appointments.
"I recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. attorneys," D. Kyle Sampson, then-chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, wrote in a January 2006 memo to then-White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers and her deputy, William Kelley.
Sampson then listed four candidates to replace them: Dan Levin, a former senior Justice Department and White House official; Jeffrey A. Taylor, now the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.; Deborah J. Rhodes, now the top prosecutor for the Southern District of Alabama; and Rachel Brand, currently head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.
Under Sampson's plan, Levin was mentioned to replace Kevin Ryan, who was fired as the U.S. attorney in San Francisco; Taylor or Rhodes to take over for Carol C. Lam, who was terminated in San Diego; and Brand to succeed Margaret M. Chiara, who was fired in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Sampson also listed U.S. Atty. H.E. "Bud" Cummins III of Little Rock, Ark., to be terminated and replaced by Timothy Griffin, a protege of White House political advisor Karl Rove.
"Please let me know how you would like to proceed," he added. "The first steps, I think, would be (1) to agree on the target list of U.S. attorneys and (2) ask EOUSA [their supervisors] to begin quietly calling them to ascertain their intentions for continued service, indicating to them that they might want to consider looking for other employment."
Eight prosecutors were eventually fired -- Cummins last summer and seven others in December.
