Fred Harteis News - Ex-aide contradicts Gonzales on attorney firings

Fred Harteis News - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was wrong when he said he was not involved in discussions about the firings of U.S. attorneys, his former top aide testified Thursday.

Former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson told senators his boss took part in the process from early 2005, well before the eight prosecutors were dismissed in 2006.

Gonzales "and I had discussions about it during the thinking phase of the process," Sampson testified. "Then after the sort of more final phase of the process in the fall of 2006 began, we discussed it."

The testimony appeared to contradict statements Gonzales made during a March 13 news conference. "So far as I knew, my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers," Gonzales said. He said he was "not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on."

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, one of the panel's leading Democrats in the investigation, said, "The credibility of the attorney general on this issue has been more or less shattered."

However, Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Sampson's testimony was consistent with Gonzales' account of his involvement in the firings.

Gonzales said "he directed Mr. Sampson to lead the evaluation process, was kept aware of some conversations during the process, and that he approved the recommendations to seek the resignations of select U.S. attorneys," Roehrkasse said in a statement.

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Source: Cnn.com

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