Attorney General Gonzales defends firing of Seattle U.S. attorney

SEATTLE -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said today it is "irresponsible and reckless" to suggest that the Justice Department improperly fired Seattle federal prosecutor John McKay and seven other U.S. attorneys.

The president has the authority and discretion to replace the U.S. attorneys, he said.

"It is reckless and irresponsible to allege that these decisions were based in any way on improper motives," Gonzales said in an interview with KIRO Radio. "It was not improper."

The reasons for the firings will come out, he added.

"We've got nothing to hide," he said. "I have no reason to believe there's anything improper here."

Last August, Gonzales' then-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, wrote e-mails to the White House Counsel's Office trying to help McKay become a federal judge in Seattle, saying "it's highly unlikely that we could do better." About a month later, that same official put McKay on a list of U.S. attorneys "we should consider pushing out."

When asked to explain how McKay's fortunes changed so quickly, Gonzales said the efforts of his chief of staff to get McKay the judgeship represented the opinion of just one person.

"That doesn't represent the views of the department, nor does it represent my view," Gonzales said.

He also said no one exerted undue influence in the firing.

"If I felt that anyone at the department was involved in making this decision to retaliate or to interfere with an ongoing investigation, I would fire that person immediately. There no room for that in the department. I wouldn't stand for it," Gonzales said.

While the Justice Department is involved in what Gonzales calls a "dialogue" with Congress over the firings, he says the department continues to push its priorities.

One of those, he told the station, is a national ad campaign with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to warn young teenagers and their parents about the risk of posting personal information online.