WASHINGTON — The day news broke that a federal corruption probe in Southern California was spreading to Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis, the chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales fired off an e-mail to the White House about the federal prosecutor who had begun the investigation.
"The real problem we have right now is Carol Lam," D. Kyle Sampson told White House Deputy Counsel William Kelley on May 11. "That leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday March 21, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 116 words Type of Material: Correction
U.S. attorney firings: An article in Thursday's Section A on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys quoted an e-mail from D. Kyle Sampson, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales' then-chief of staff, to White House Deputy Counsel William Kelley as saying: "The real problem we have right now is Carol Lam. That leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires." The quote should have read: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ... leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her four-year term expires." Lam had been U.S. attorney in San Diego.
Sampson's e-mail did not mention Lewis (R-Redlands) or the corruption probe.
By the end of the year, Lam -- the U.S. attorney in San Diego -- had become one of eight federal prosecutors notified that they were being replaced.
Now congressional committees run by Democrats are investigating the terminations and exploring whether the Bush administration targeted Lam for political reasons or because she was lax in prosecuting border crimes, as some Justice officials have asserted.
Leading Democrats on Wednesday charged that the timing of Sampson's e-mail was no coincidence.
"It's clear from the e-mail sent by Mr. Sampson to the White House
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a series of five questions to President Bush on Wednesday, asking for more information about the timing of the Sampson e-mail and the corruption investigations into Lewis and former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe).
Justice officials did not return phone calls from The Times seeking comment.
E-mails and other Bush administration documents made public this week show conflicting messages from Washington officials about Lam's performance.
Sometimes they criticized her for not doing enough to prosecute illegal immigration. Indeed, Sampson thought Lam should be "woodshedded" for her shortcomings on immigration enforcement.
Other times, officials at Justice and the Department of Homeland Security praised her work. In August, just months after Sampson had placed Lam on a working list of those to be fired, Assistant Atty. Gen. William E. Moschella -- Sampson's boss -- commended her for doubling the number of immigration-related prosecutions.
Lam's office, Moschella wrote to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), "has devoted substantial resources to investigating and prosecuting border corruption cases which pose a serious threat to both national security and continuing immigration violations."
