Document: U.S. Department of Justice - An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2007
Office of the Inspector General, September 2008.
A report of the investigation into the firfings of nine U.S. Attorneys by the Department of Justice in 2006.
An excerpt from Chapter 1 of the Report:
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
On December 7, 2006, at the direction of senior Department of Justice
(Department) officials, seven U.S. Attorneys were told to resign from their
positions.1 Two other U.S. Attorneys had been told to resign earlier in 2006.2
When these removals became public in late 2006 and early 2007, members of
Congress began to raise questions and concerns about the reasons for the
removals, including whether they were intended to influence certain
prosecutions.
Beginning in March 2007, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and
the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) conducted this joint investigation
into the removals of these U.S. Attorneys.3 Our investigation focused on the
reasons for the removals of the U.S. Attorneys and whether they were removed
for partisan political purposes, or to influence an investigation or prosecution,
or to retaliate for their actions in any specific investigation or prosecution. We
also examined the process by which the U.S. Attorneys were selected for
removal, and we sought to identify the persons involved in those decisions,
whether in the Department, the White House, Congress, or elsewhere. In
addition, we investigated whether the Attorney General or other Department
officials made any false or misleading statements to Congress or the public
concerning the removals, and whether they attempted to influence the
testimony of other witnesses. Finally, we examined whether the Attorney
General or others intended to bypass the Senate confirmation process in the
replacement of any removed U.S. Attorney through the use of the Attorney
General’s appointment power for Interim U.S. Attorneys.
1 The U.S. Attorneys were Daniel Bogden, Paul Charlton, Margaret Chiara, David
Iglesias, Carol Lam, John McKay, and Kevin Ryan.
2 On January 24, 2006, Todd Graves was told to resign; on June 14, 2006, H.E. “Bud”
Cummins was told to resign.
3 In addition, we also conducted joint investigations of three other matters related to
the subject matter of this investigation. We investigated allegations that the Department’s
former White House Liaison, Monica Goodling, and others in the Office of the Attorney General
used political considerations to assess candidates for career positions in the Department, and
on July 28, 2008, we issued a report describing our findings. We also investigated allegations
that officials overseeing the Department’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program
used political considerations in assessing candidates for those programs, and on June 24,
2008, we issued a report describing our findings in that investigation. In addition, we
investigated allegations that former Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General (AAG)
Bradley Schlozman and others used political considerations in hiring and personnel decisions
in the Civil Rights Division. We will issue a separate report describing the results of that
investigation.
To see the entire Report click here.
