U.S. attorneys' selection is questioned

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is transforming the ranks of the nation's top federal prosecutors by firing some and appointing conservative loyalists from the Bush administration's inner circle who critics say are unlikely to buck Washington, D.C.

The newly appointed U.S. attorneys all have impressive legal credentials, but most of them have few, if any, ties to the communities they've been appointed to serve, and some have had little experience as prosecutors.

Nine recent appointees held high-level White House or Justice Department jobs, and most of them were handpicked by Gonzales under a little-noticed provision of the USA Patriot Act that became law in March.

With Congress controlled by the Democrats, critics fear that in some cases Gonzales is trying to skirt the need for Senate confirmation by giving new U.S. attorneys interim appointments for indefinite terms. Some legal scholars contend the administration pushed for the change in the Patriot Act as part of its attempt to expand the power of the executive branch, a charge administration officials deny.

Being named a U.S. attorney "has become a prize for doing the bidding of the White House or administration," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

"In the past, there had been a great deal of delegation to the local offices. Now, you have a consolidation of power in Washington."

A Justice Department spokesman said it was "reckless" to suggest politics had influenced the appointment process.

The appointments have troubled some current and former prosecutors, who worry the Justice Department is tightening its control over local U.S. attorneys' offices to curb the prosecutors' independence.

If they're too close to the administration, these lawyers said, federal prosecutors might not be willing to pursue important but controversial cases that don't fit the administration's agenda. Similarly, they said, U.S. attorneys could be forced to pursue only the federal government's priorities rather than their own.

A Justice Department spokesman denied Gonzales has sought to compromise the independence of U.S. attorneys' offices by appointing political loyalists. In some recent cases, Gonzales has followed the traditional process.

"Allegations that politics inappropriately interfere with personnel decisions made about U.S. attorneys are reckless and plainly wrong," department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. "The bottom line is that we nominate experienced attorneys who we believe can do the job."

He said it's common for attorneys to serve stints at department headquarters and it "can be tremendously beneficial" for a U.S. attorney to have served in Washington, D.C.

End run denied

Gonzales and his aides also denied they're attempting to do an end run around the Senate. In a recent letter to two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said the change was sought to avoid conflicts involving federal judges appointing officials to posts in the executive branch of government.

At a recent Senate hearing, Gonzales said the administration is committed to giving senators of the president's party their traditional say in selecting U.S. attorney candidates.

Since March, the administration has named at least nine U.S. attorneys with administration ties. None would agree to an interview. They are:

• Tim Griffin, 37, U.S. attorney for Arkansas, who was an aide to White House political adviser Karl Rove and a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

• Rachel Paulose, 33, U.S. attorney for Minnesota, who served briefly as a counselor to the deputy attorney general and who, according to a former boss, has been a member of the secretive, ideologically conservative Federalist Society.

• Jeff Taylor, 42, U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who was an aide to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and worked as a counselor to Gonzales and to former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

• John Wood, U.S. attorney in Kansas City, who is the husband of Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Julie Myers and a former deputy general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

• Deborah Rhodes, 47, U.S. attorney in Mobile, Ala., who was a Justice Department counselor.

• Alexander Acosta, 37, U.S. attorney in Miami, who was an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil-rights division and a protégé of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

• John Richter, 43, U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City, who was the chief of staff for the Justice Department's criminal division and acting assistant attorney general.

• Edward McNally, U.S. attorney in southern Illinois, who was a senior associate counsel to President Bush.

• Matt Dummermuth, U.S. attorney in Iowa, who was a Justice Department civil-rights lawyer.

Some of these appointees have drawn praise from local skeptics and later won Senate confirmation for permanent appointments.

Roehrkasse, the Justice Department spokesman, said that while some newly appointed U.S. attorneys might have political connections, they all have outstanding credentials.

The U.S. attorney in Seattle, John McKay, who stepped down Friday, didn't mention the Patriot Act when he announced his decision Dec. 14, the same day he learned he would not be nominated to be a federal judge. McKay said he was leaving the post as the Justice Department's top lawyer in Western Washington to return to the private sector. He said the timing was coincidental.

Gonzalez named Jeffrey Sullivan, 63, interim U.S. attorney for the western district of Washington on Friday.

It is not clear how long Sullivan will hold the top job. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, has asked a panel of local lawyers and law-enforcement officials to identify potential permanent replacements for McKay.

Trend causes concern

Todd Jones, a U.S. attorney in Minneapolis during the Clinton administration, said he was concerned by the trend of an administration putting into place a "more centralized, command-and-control system."

Several prosecutors said previous Republican administrations avoided such tight control.

"Under Reagan and the first Bush administration, we worked very hard to push the power out to the locals," said Jean Paul Bradshaw, a U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., under President George H.W. Bush. "Local attorneys know how a case will play in their areas, what crimes are a problem. Ultimately, these decisions are better made locally."

After the recent firings of six U.S. attorneys, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, filed bills that would restore to federal judges the right to name interim appointees when vacancies develop. On Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., whose office has confirmed that he inserted language making the change in Patriot Act last year, gave his qualified support to Feinstein's bill.

Justice Department officials have refused to say how many prosecutors were fired or to explain the firings, but Feinstein has said she's aware of the ouster of at least seven U.S. attorneys since March.

Former U.S. attorneys who know some of those ousted said they were concerned because the administration in some cases offered no reason for the dismissals.

Among those dismissed were Carol Lam, of San Diego, whose office won a bribery conviction against Rep. Randolph "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and prosecuted several members of San Diego's City Council.

Also ordered to resign was Kevin Ryan, U.S. attorney in San Francisco, who was overseeing high-profile investigations into steroids use by major league baseball players and the backdating of stock options by Apple and other firms.

Material from The Associated Press and The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.