>>>>E-mails show feds unhappy with McKay over letter <<<<
seattletimes.nwsource.com
By David Bowermaster
Seattle Times staff reporter
An initial review of newly released Justice Department documents concerning the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys last year reveals strong unhappiness with John McKay, the former U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, over an information-sharing system he championed.
None of the roughly 1,000 pages of material examined by The Seattle Times on Monday night definitively explains whether that is why McKay was fired, or if there was another motive behind his dismissal.
Many of the newly released documents, which are mostly e-mails, show how Justice Department officials scrambled to contain the growing controversy after the firings became known in January, including preparations for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty to testify before Congress.
Other chunks illuminate controversies involving individual prosecutors, such as a dispute between Carol Lam, the former U.S. Attorney in San Diego, and Rep. Darryl Issa, R-Calif., over immigration enforcement.
Also included is a prescient memo sent Oct. 5 from former Justice Department official Michael Battle to all 93 U.S. Attorneys titled, "Resignation guidance for United States Attorneys." The memo included a list of frequently asked questions as well as sample resignation letters to submit to the Attorney General and the President.
On Dec. 7, Battle called seven U.S. Attorneys and ordered them to resign. (Another had been told to resign earlier.)
McKay clearly angered some senior Justice Department officials, including Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, when he sent a letter to McNulty on Aug. 31 regarding the Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LINX) system.
The letter was described as a "Request for Meeting" by the LINX working group, which McKay chaired.
Yet the letter, co-signed by 16 other U.S. Attorneys, called for the Justice Department to overcome delays in approving funding for LINX, and in cementing partnerships with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
The letter inspired a sharp response from Justice Department official Mark Connor in an e-mail to Michael Elston and Michael Scudder, who worked for McNulty.
"I believe McKay is way out of line here," Connor wrote. "I don't know what McKay's motives are, but this is embarrassing and outrageous."
McNulty responded Sept. 5 and showed his displeasure, not only with McKay but with the other U.S. Attorneys who had co-signed McKay's letter.
"I am quite disappointed that you have chosen to communicate with me in this way," McNulty wrote. "It appears that you are trying to force me to take some specific actions. It reads like a letter from Capitol Hill, not one from friends on the same team... it is best to talk these things through a bit before laying down a challenge in writing which will set the Department up for failure."
Eight days later, on Sept. 13, McKay's name appeared for the first time in an e-mail exchange between Kyle Sampson, former Justice Department chief of staff, to Harriet Miers, former White House counsel.
Sampson listed McKay in a group titled: "[U.S. Attorneys] We Now Should Consider Pushing Out."
Sampson resigned as Gonzales' chief of staff last week. Bradford Berenson, Sampson's lawyer, said through his assistant Monday that Sampson would not comment on any of the dismissals.
William Moschella, associate deputy attorney general, has testified before the House Judiciary Committee that differences over LINX was one of the reasons McKay was fired.
David Bowermaster: 206-464-2724 or dbowermaster@seattletimes.com |
