Deputy AG Says He Was Kept Out of the Loop on U.S. Attorney Firings

June 21, 2007 — -- The second in command at the Justice Department said Thursday that he was kept out of the loop regarding the controversial U.S. attorney firings last year.

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty testified to the House Judiciary Committee that he was consulted only toward the end of the process -- after October 2006, three months before the December dismissal of seven of the eight fired prosecutors.

"I had no knowledge of any plan to remove U.S. attorneys prior to October of 2006," he said.

McNulty said it was his belief that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff Kyle Sampson, who resigned in March as the controversy began to heat up, was responsible for drafting the list of the U.S. attorneys to be fired.

"My best understanding is that Mr. Sampson put the list together, and that he put the list together based upon information that he gathered over an extended period of time, that he made changes to it from time to time based upon various inputs he received, conversations he had," McNulty testified.

Further discussing Sampson, McNulty said, "My best memory is he [Gonzales] said he directed Mr. Sampson to begin a process sometime in '05 that involved discussing with different people their views on the work of the U.S. attorneys."

McNulty also disputed testimony from Monica Goodling, the former Justice Department White House liaison, who said McNulty was a key player in determining which of the prosecutors should be fired.

McNulty told the committee, "She was describing what my role was in this process."

"When I first learned of this, first consulted, it was in October, not before that, and so I had no knowledge of any plan to remove U.S. attorneys prior to October of 2006," McNulty continued, "and therefore no knowledge of any White House contacts or White House involvement. "

Goodling stepped down from her post in April.