Gonzales admits errors in firing U.S. attorneys

How and why were eight U.S. attorneys fired? That story continues to snowball in Washington. A top Justice Department adviser has resigned over his involvement in the dismissals. And today congressional leaders said they haven't finished digging into the matter.

NPR's Ari Shapiro has the latest.

ARI SHAPIRO: Monday, January 9, 2006. I recommend that the Department of Justice and the office of the council to the president work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. attorneys. That was a message from the attorney general's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, to Harriet Miers, who was then White House counsel. Sampson's resignation yesterday was the latest casualty in the scandal.

Today, the Justice Department sent Congress a stack of e-mails between Sampson and other administration officials, including Miers. They show an earlier and deeper White House involvement in the U.S. attorney firings than anyone in the administration had previously admitted. Democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer said this morning this has become as serious as it gets. ...

In December of last year, Sampson at the Justice Department wrote of the new authority, if we don't ever exercise it, then what's the point of having it? Washington University law professor Sam Buell worked in U.S. attorneys' offices for 10 years and he prosecuted the Enron case. He says the administration has the right to fire U.S. attorneys at any time for any reason, but this scandal risks doing long-term damage to prosecutors' reputation for independence.

Professor SAM BUELL (Law, Washington University): They need to be able to say to judges, to juries, to the public, we follow the evidence where it leads us, we apply the law, our decisions are not political. And that makes them more effective. So while the administration might gain something politically from doing this, it loses something in terms of its ability to accomplish the Department of Justice's mission. ...

•	Gonzales admits errors in firing U.S. attorneys NPR - All Things Considered, Tuesday, March 13, 2007 Byline: Michele Norris and Robert Siegel, hosts