Documents Reveal Personal Side of Showdown With U.S. Attorneys
"I assure you," he told McNulty, "my call will be pleasant and respectful." The chat must have gone well, because on January 11, Iglesias is back in touch with McNulty. This time, he's grateful. "Paul: First, on behalf of my wife and kids," Iglesias wrote, "thank you for going to bat for me regarding the extension." Iglesias informed McNulty that he had been a "veritable whirling dervish in sending out emails, resumes, bios phone calls, etc." Then, the kicker: "Would you mind," he asked McNulty, "if I list you as a reference?" Iglesias signed off by thanking McNulty for his "support and prayers." Two hours later, Iglesias got a warm response. "You're most welcome, brother," McNulty wrote. "I would be happy to be a reference for you. "
On January 18, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan of San Francisco, essentially kissing McNulty's ring, conveyed his fealty through an intermediary to McNulty's chief of staff, Michael Elston, who promptly E-mailed McNulty, Gonzales's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson–who has since resigned–and other Justice officials. Ryan, Elston said, was deliberately "not returning calls" from either Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, or another ousted U.S. attorney, Carol Lam. Elston wrote that Ryan was "doing his best to stay out of this," and added that Ryan "wanted us to know that he's still a 'company man.' "
Compared with Iglesias's and Ryan's bombast, perhaps the most distressing exchange of E-mails took place between McNulty and Margaret Chiara, the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Michigan, who was growing increasingly anxious over her imminent firing. She wrote to McNulty on a Sunday afternoon in early November saying that Elston had "conveyed professionally shocking news" that the White House would be contacting her for her resignation shortly after the November 7 election. Unlike Iglesias's classically male, self-assured, breezy, "Can I use you for a reference" E-mail, or Ryan's glad-handing, Chiara's was the essence of sorrow and yes, neediness.
"While I live in hope that this dire prediction is untrue," Chiara wrote to McNulty, "I am contacting you because I need assistance to remain in federal service with a comparable compensation or, quite frankly, I will lose everything that I have been working toward for the past five years." Saying she hoped she could count on McNulty, Chiara signed off as, simply, Margaret.
In the ensuing series of E-mails, Chiara continued to lay her woes on McNulty, calling the timing of her departure "surprising and distressing." She told him that she was "assiduously" seeking other jobs but reminded McNulty that because of her "exemplary" five-year tenure, she deserved "consideration and flexibility." Her financial situation, she said, required "continuous employment." The long-forbearing McNulty responded: "Margaret, I'm not avoiding you," he wrote, saying he'd been swamped. He promised to call her in the morning. "Thanks for your patience," he wrote.
When McNulty suggested an immigration judgeship as a way out for Chiara, though, he was rejected because it would be "the wrong next step for me," Chiara, suggesting three other positions that she would love to have. "Thank you for accompanying me on this journey! Margaret." Then in February the anger set in. Word was getting out that she was to be fired.
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