Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ former chief of staff proposed replacement candidates for seven U.S. attorneys nearly a year before the December 2006 firings, according to e-mails released Friday.
This was contrary to his testimony before Congress last month, when he said that no successors were considered before the firings.
Kyle Sampson, the former aide, listed the names of possible replacements in a January 2006 e-mail he sent to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers.
The disclosure offers more evidence that Justice Department officials may have misled Congress about attempting to transform the ranks of the nation’s top federal prosecutors by firing some — perhaps for refusing to follow political direction — and replacing them with conservative loyalists from the Bush administration.
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