Special prosecutor to probe U.S. attorney firings

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has named a special prosecutor to determine whether the findings of an internal DoJ probe that investigated the firing of nine U.S. attorneys should result in criminal charges.

The report, released Monday morning and issued by Justice’s (DoJ) Offices of the Inspector General and Professional Responsibility, found evidence that several of the dismissals were politically motivated. It also determined that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had “abdicated” his supervisory duties in the matter by failing to oversee subordinates carrying out the firings. Several White House officials, including former top political aide Karl Rove, refused to be interviewed by the inspector general’s office, the report said.

{mosads}Mukasey reacted by tapping Nora Dannehy, a federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to lead a probe that likely will include subpoenas of Rove and others who refused to cooperate in the internal DoJ investigation.

“The Offices of Inspector General and Professional Responsibility dispelled many of the most disturbing allegations made in the wake of the removals,” Mukasey said in a statement.

“However, the report makes plain that, at a minimum, the process by which nine U.S. attorneys were removed in 2006 was haphazard, arbitrary and unprofessional, and that the way in which the Justice Department handled those removals and the resulting public controversy was profoundly lacking.”

The report stems from charges that the U.S. attorneys were fired improperly. Congressional Democrats held a series of hearings into the matter that raised even more questions and led to Gonzales’s resignation.

During the hearings, David Iglesias, a former U.S. attorney from New Mexico, argued that he was ousted for political reasons because of complaints about him from Reps. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) and one of her political mentors, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). Both lawmakers are leaving Congress at the end of this year.

According to the report, Domenici refused to be interviewed.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said the report confirms Democrats’ worst fears.

“This scheme — which the report makes clear was hatched in the White House — was a fundamental betrayal of the American people and the men and women of the Department of Justice and it will be a long time before we can fully repair the damage,” he said in a statement.

Conyers plans to hold a Judiciary Committee hearing on Friday to explore the issues raised in the report.