WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Justice Department investigation finds
former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves of the Western District of Missouri was forced out because of opposition from Missouri Sen. Kit Bond's office. The report by the department's internal watchdog says Bond's legal counsel, Jack Bartling, asked the White House at least twice in 2005 to remove Graves.
Bartling told investigators that he wanted to remove Graves because of conflicts between the staffs of Bond and Graves' brother, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Republican who represents northwest Missouri. Bartling said Rep. Graves' operation "did not run business"
the way that Bond's office wanted.
Bartling said Bond was not involved in the request for Graves'
removal. Graves resigned as the chief federal prosecutor for the Western District, which includes Springfield and southwestern counties, in March 2006.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey named a prosecutor Monday to investigate whether Bush administration officials violated federal law in the firings of Graves and eight other federal prosecutors. The scandal stripped the Justice Department of its leadership, damaged its credibility and sparked a historic showdown in court.
The decision to push ahead on a criminal inquiry follows the recommendation of an internal Justice Department investigation that harshly criticized Bush administration officials, members of Congress and their aides for the ousters, which many considered politically motivated.
Senators of both parties who led a congressional probe of the firing praised Mukasey's decision and cautioned President Bush against pardoning anyone involved in the scandal before as he leaves office in January.
"The American people will see any misuse of the pardon power or any grant of clemency or immunity to those from his administration involved in the U.S. attorney firing scandal as an
admission of wrongdoing," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Nora Dannehy, a career prosecutor from Connecticut, was named by Mukasey to direct the probe into what role the White House played in the firings of the nine prosecutors and whether any crimes were committed during the ensuing congressional investigation.
Bringing in a career prosecutor was the lead recommendation of an internal Justice Department report released Monday, and Mukasey determined it should be someone from outside Washington.
The report unsparingly criticized Bush administration officials, Republican members of Congress and their aides for the ousters.
In it, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility Director Marshall Jarrett described an almost total lack of involvement by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputy, Paul McNulty, in decisions to force out
the nine federal prosecutors.
Monday's report, the
result of a months' long investigation, was the latest to criticize Gonzales'
management of the Justice Department during his 31 months as attorney general.
Gonzales quit under fire in September 2007.
In a statement issued by
his attorney, Gonzales said: "My family and I are glad to have the
investigation of my conduct in this matter behind us and we look forward to
moving on to new challenges."
Gonzales' attorney George
Terwiller noted that the report found no unlawful conduct. "It seems rather
odd," Terwilliger said, "that rather than bring the investigation to a
close, the department would escalate the matter to the attention of a
prosecutor."
U.S. attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the
president, but cannot be fired for improper reasons.
The report singled out
the removal of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico - one of the nine - as
the most troubling. Republican
political figures in New Mexico, including Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather
Wilson, complained about Iglesias' handling of voter fraud and public corruption
cases, and that led to his firing, the report said.
Iglesias, who now works
as a paid speaker and practices law part-time, said he thinks criminal
investigations should be pursued against Domenici, Wilson and anyone else who
may have broken federal criminal laws. He said he had not yet seen the report.
"I've said all along
that these moves were improper and illegal and now it appears that they were
criminal as well," he said in an interview. "Our complaints weren't
just complaints of disgruntled former employees," he added.
Spokesmen for Domenici
and Wilson did not respond to requests for comment. Both are leaving Congress at
the end of the year.
Fine and Jarrett
recommended a prosecutor because the White House and Justice's Office of Legal
Counsel had not fully cooperated with their probe. "Serious allegations
involving potential criminal conduct have not been fully investigated or
resolved," they wrote.
Potential crimes
described in their report include lying to investigators, obstruction of justice
and wire fraud.
Investigators said they
do not have the complete story of the firing of Iglesias, blaming it on the
refusal of Domenici, former White House adviser Karl Rove, former White House
counsel Harriet Miers, former Justice Department official Monica Goodling and
other key witnesses still to be interviewed.
The president's refusal
to let Rove, Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten testify before
Congress about the firings touched off a legal fight that is now before a
federal appeals court. Most recently a judge ordered Miers to answer questions
from the House Judiciary Committee about the firings.
Monday's report takes aim
at Gonzales and McNulty, describing as "remarkable" their apparent
ignorance of the reasons for the firing of prosecutor Daniel Bogden of Nevada.
Gonzales "bears primary responsibility" for the process of firing
of the prosecutors and the turmoil that followed, the report said, adding that
he "abdicated" his leadership role and was "remarkably
unengaged."
The report concluded that
Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, was the person most responsible for
developing the plan to fire the prosecutors and said that Sampson's comments to
Congress, the White House and others were misleading.
Sampson and others
claimed at first that the prosecutors' poor performance inspired their firings.
But the 358-page report found that Bud Cummins, the U.S. Attorney in Arkansas,
was forced out to make way for Timothy Griffin, who had previously been Rove's
deputy in the White House political office.
It also said the
dismissal of Todd Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of
Missouri, probably resulted from pressure from the office of Republican Sen.
Christopher "Kit" Bond. Bond was upset that Graves did not intervene
in a dispute between the staffs of Bond and Republican Rep. Sam Graves, the
prosecutor's brother, the report said. A
spokeswoman for Bond did not immediately return a call for comment.
Investigators found no
evidence that Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton and U.S. Attorney Carol Lam of
San Diego were fired for prosecuting Republican members of Congress.
Similarly, Justice
Department officials had legitimate concerns about the work of two other
prosecutors who were fired, Margaret Chiara of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Kevin
Ryan of San Francisco, the report said.
