In a Call to Prosecutors, Gonzales Apologizes for Handling of Firings

Embattled Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales spent several days last week issuing public apologies for the way the Justice Department handled the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. At the end of the week, he offered a mea culpa to the remaining federal prosecutors.

In a conference call Friday, Gonzales told most of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys that he was sorry for how the dismissals were handled and for the suggestion that some prosecutors had performance problems, Justice officials and sources who listened to the call said.

Two sources said that one of the prosecutors who listened in was Margaret Chiara, the fired U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., whose last day on the job was Friday.

The conference call, first reported by McClatchy Newspapers, marked a somber end to a turbulent week for Gonzales, who faced demands for his resignation from a smattering of lawmakers upset with his handling of the attorneys imbroglio. President Bush has pledged his confidence in his longtime friend and aide, though Bush said he was "not happy" with how the issue was handled.

Seven U.S. attorneys were fired Dec. 7, and another was let go months earlier, with little explanation from Justice Department officials, who later told Congress that the dismissals were related to the attorneys' performance. Several former prosecutors have since alleged intimidation, including improper telephone calls from GOP lawmakers or their aides, and have alleged threats of retaliation by a Justice Department official.

E-mails and other documents released last week revealed that, contrary to what administration officials had been saying for weeks, the idea for a mass firing of U.S. attorneys originated in the White House two years ago.

The escalating revelations have damaged morale at U.S. attorney's offices around the nation, according to numerous prosecutors, in part because it is clear that Justice had considered firing up to 20 percent of chief federal prosecutors and had ranked them based in part on whether they were, in the words of one memo, "loyal Bushies."

On Friday's conference call, Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said, Gonzales "reiterated how important the U.S. attorneys are to him as his representatives in the communities they serve. . . . He encouraged them as members of his team to be open with him and share any thoughts or concerns they have during this period."

Several people who listened to the call said Gonzales also introduced Chuck Rosenberg, the well-known and well-liked U.S. attorney from Alexandria who is taking over as his chief of staff. Gonzales's previous aide resigned last week in the firings uproar.

One Justice official said Gonzales did not apologize for the firings themselves but for the handling of the situation, including the suggestion the prosecutors had performed poorly.

It is unclear how effective the phone call was, given that it came after weeks of statements by Gonzales and others that the fired prosecutors had "performance-related" problems or did not hew to administration policy priorities.

"The whole thing is just a fiasco and has devastated the credibility of U.S. attorneys around the country," one senior prosecutor said yesterday. "I would call it too little, too late."