| Members of the US House Judiciary Committee questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Thursday about the US Attorney firing scandal, demanding to know whether White House officials ordered the firings of prosecutors for political reasons. Gonzales said his former chief of staff Kyle Sampson was mainly responsible for compiling the list of prosecutors to be dismissed, but acknowledged that presidential adviser Karl Rove had earlier discussed voter fraud prosecutions in three jurisdictions with Gonzales. The US Attorney in one of those jurisdictions was later fired, and allegations have surfaced that US Attorneys were evaluated on whether they pursued voter fraud cases that benefited Republican candidates. A series of emails released by the Department of Justice in March revealed that Rove originally suggested firing all 93 US Attorneys in January 2005, contradicting earlier assertions by the White House that the idea first came from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. The same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and Sampson, rejecting Bush's interview offer. The House Judiciary Committee later subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and several aides to testify in a concurrent investigation. The Department of Justice is currently investigating whether Gonzales' former White House liaison Monica Goodling considered political affiliation in hiring replacement US attorneys in violation of federal law. |
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