Insults Fly as Probe of Md. Firings Nears

Jones was one of several lawmakers who said yesterday that recent broadsides would not deter the review. "We have a responsibility to determine if we're getting the best use of our resources and if state employees are being dealt with fairly," Jones said. "They can try all they want to intimidate us. But I'm not concerned."

Among the questions the committee is expected to probe: whether Ehrlich dispatched longtime aides to various state agencies to weed out workers who were not loyal to the governor; whether his administration replaced mid-level bureaucrats who do not enjoy civil service protections; and, possibly, whether a longtime Ehrlich aide used his state job to conduct a political-dirty tricks campaign.

Ehrlich and other state officials have repeatedly dismissed all of those allegations. They note that the governor has legal authority to replace over 7,000 state employees without providing a reason. And they say none of thousands of state workers with civil service protections have been fired.

The Republicans have called the investigation a political witch hunt.

Democrats said they have no intention of turning the probe into political theater.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Calvert) said recently he wants to focus solely on a "loophole" that enabled so many state employees to face dismissal at the governor's discretion. "The committee was not formed to embarrass the governor," he said. "It was designed solely to ferret out objective ways to protect state employees."

Still, committee members said they expect to follow the information wherever it takes them. Sen. Paula Hollinger (D-Baltimore County) said she is particularly concerned about legal liability the state faces in such cases, including one in which a worker received a $100,000 settlement from the state.

Until she is satisfied, Hollinger said, she won't let up. "If they want to call me names, so be it."