More evidence of the partisan hackery at the "Justice" Department. We need more evidence of obstruction of justice as to how they kept their jobs.

U.S. Justice Dept weighed firing 26 prosecutors: paper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department considered dismissing more than a quarter of the 93 federal prosecutors in 2005 and 2006, far more than previously acknowledged, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, considered firing at least 26 U.S. attorneys during the period, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.

Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June.

Other officials in President George W. Bush's administration have said that only a few other prosecutors were suggested for removal, the Post said.

Critics accuse the White House of ousting the prosecutors to make room for its allies or because they were seen to be too tough on Republicans and too easy on Democrats. The Bush administration contends the dismissals were justified, based largely on performance or policy differences.

The Post said sources who have examined or been briefed on records withheld from public release identified at least 26 names, including the prosecutors fired last year and another, Karl Warner, who was dismissed in August 2005.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse told the paper the department would not confirm which prosecutors were included on the lists, which he said "reflect Kyle Sampson's thoughts for discussion during the consultation process."

Sampson and at least two other members of Gonzales's team have resigned this year. The deputy attorney general, Paul McNulty, is due to leave at some point this summer.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska on Wednesday became the latest Republican to join bipartisan calls for Gonzales to resign after months of congressional investigations into the attorney general's role in the firing of the federal prosecutors.

"The American people deserve an attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of our country, whose honesty and capability are beyond question," Hagel said. "Attorney General Gonzales can no longer meet this standard."

Hagel's statement came a day after testimony about an effort by Gonzales while he was White House counsel in 2004 on behalf of the Bush administration's embattled domestic spying program.

James Comey, a former deputy attorney general, said Gonzales made a late-night visit to the hospital bed of then Attorney General John Ashcroft in a failed attempt to get Ashcroft to reauthorize the spying program, which the Justice Department had just determined was illegal.

About a dozen of Bush's fellow Republicans in Congress have voiced a lack of confidence in Gonzales, with many saying he should be replaced. The White House reiterated on Wednesday that Bush still supports him.

Original article posted here.