Justice Department withholds some of former Utahn's documents in U.S. Attorneys probe

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Posted: 12:58 PM- By Robert Schmidt

Bloomberg News

The U.S. Justice Department told Congress it won't release 171 documents investigators requested about the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

The e-mails and memos from the files of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's ex-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, involve the agency's response to congressional and media inquires about the ousters, the department said in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen.

Richard Hertling, the Justice Department's acting chief of legislative affairs, said in the letter the agency had "substantial concerns" about releasing documents created after Dec. 7, when seven of the prosecutors were fired. One prosecutor was dismissed earlier.

The Judiciary committees are investigating whether any of the prosecutors were fired to interfere with criminal investigations. The Justice Department has turned over nearly 6,000 pages of documents to the panels.

Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, the department's No. 2 official, testified about the firings today behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. McNulty has come under fire for minimizing the role the White House played in the dismissals during a February appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

McNulty has since accused Sampson and another Gonzales aide, Monica Goodling, of misleading him when he prepared for the hearing. Sampson, who spearheaded the firings, and Goodling have both resigned.

List of Documents

The letter to the legislative committees included a list of the withheld documents and a brief description of each one. The documents were created from Dec. 8 through March 8, and mainly involve internal agency discussions about media coverage and questions from lawmakers.

Several of the withheld documents relate to phone calls Gonzales had with Senator Mark Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat, who has said the attorney general lied to him about filling the U.S. attorney post in Little Rock. At the White House's request, the Justice Department gave the job to a former aide to Bush political adviser Karl Rove.

Hertling said the list of withheld documents will be updated "on a rolling basis." The Justice Department did release 25 pages in which department officials discussed news articles about the U.S. attorney firings.