Documents Reveal Personal Side of Showdown With U.S. Attorneys
Setting aside just for a moment the politics vs. performance controversy, the E-mails released Monday by the Justice Department reveal in sometimes funny, sometimes poignant ways just how much U.S attorneys owe their livelihoods and pensions to their masters in Washington, how much they cherish their stature in their districts, and how their lives get upended when they are abruptly terminated.
The release of the 3,000 pages–along with the declaration that officials were prepared to conduct interviews and testify at hearings to prove they were innocent of political shenanigans in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys–undoubtedly will set off the next frenzied volley of point-counterpoint in the ever escalating crisis that is threatening to bring Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's career in Washington to an ignominious end.
But the E-mails also shine a light on the personal give-and-take between U.S. attorneys and their bosses.
Many of the fired U.S. attorneys went through a constantly shifting landscape of emotions–from wanting to stay on the good side of their bosses to the searing anger that came when they felt betrayed by the bad report cards. The E-mails also show the sausage-making aspect of the Justice Department's communications effort, as officials tried to manage the escalating crisis to divert reporters from the negative aspects of the story, and how officials internally debated which U.S. attorneys should and should not testify and how damaging their testimony would be if they did.
The U.S. attorneys periodically connect to their mother ship–the Justice Department–through the deputy attorney general (DAG) of the United States. The DAG handles the day-to-day running of the 110,000-employee department and has an overwhelming workload, including managing critical national security matters. But he must also keep an eye on the 93 U.S. attorneys nationwide.
The DAG in this case is Paul McNulty, a seasoned former congressional staff member, a veteran senior Justice official who led the transition team for then Attorney General John Ashcroft, and a former U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Eternally soft-spoken, McNulty has come under fire from Democrats on the Hill for some of his testimony relating to the firings.
While those allegations have yet to be settled, what's clear is the preternatural good humor and patience with which McNulty fielded dozens of "Importance: High" E-mails from these U.S. attorneys who were slowly becoming aware of their plight, shocked that soon they would be out of a cushy job but trying to keep their relationship with their boss, the DAG, on an even keel, at least early in the game, and then slowly pushing back.
Take, for instance, a series of E-mails from David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney from New Mexico, to McNulty. "Happy New Year! Hope your holidays were as pleasant and relaxing as mine were," Iglesias wrote to McNulty on January 3 in an E-mail inquiring as to what would be a good time to call McNulty "to discuss what day my resignation will become effective" as well as a possible two-month extension. Fearing that McNulty would think he was about to confront him over the firing, Iglesias added a soothing postscript:
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