More E-Mails in Fired U.S. Attorneys Controversy

March 19, 2007— -- New e-mails released this evening by the Justice Department reveal the in-depth conversations Department of Justice staff members had about the eight U.S. attorneys fired last year. The department released more than 3,000 pages of documents late Monday.

The e-mails detail conversations about attorneys targeted for dismissal. There are no e-mails from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who reportedly does not use e-mail, though the Justice Department says messages show some indication that Gonzales' former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, kept the attorney general apprised.

The Justice Department has taken heat from Democrats, who stepped up harsh criticism and calls for Gonzales to step down last week. "They [the U.S. attorneys] should not be sent packing on a whim," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., adding, "especially when the circumstances suggest that their departures may have been motivated by politics."

"First of all, he's [Gonzales] not telling the truth. These were all political," declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Never in the history of the country has anything like this ever happened. What is done is untoward, it is wrong, it is unethical, it's immoral. I believe it's illegal, and Gonzales should be fired or he should resign."

The president addressed criticism about political motivations last week by dismissing it. "I've heard those allegations about, you know, political decision-making," Bush said last Wednesday. "It's not true."

Several top officials at the Justice Department will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee over the coming months. Gonzales will appear April 17 to answer questions about Department of Justice oversight. The committee also voted last week to allow Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to subpoena five current and former Justice Department officials, including Sampson, who stepped down last week amid the controversy.