Gonzales: Deputy Was Pointman on Firings

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales holds a candle during in the 19th Annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Sunday, May 13, 2007, in Washington. (Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP)

McNulty has acknowledged approving, last October, the list of prosecutors who were ordered to leave. But documents released by the Justice Department show he was not closely involved in picking all the U.S. attorneys who were put on the list _ a job mostly driven by two Gonzales staffers with little prosecutorial experience.

Gonzales ultimately signed off on the list. He said he was reassured by McNulty as recently as March that the firings were justified.

Gonzales called McNulty's pending departure "a loss. ... I'm really going to miss him."

White House spokesman Tony Snow said McNulty's departure would not affect Gonzales' standing with the president.

"Paul also served this country very well and we certainly thank him for his service, but it certainly does not change the way in which we view the attorney general," Snow said. "Instead, what we do is we thank Paul for his service."

Former federal terrorism prosecutor Aitan Goelman, who attended Gonzales' speech, said the attorney general seemed intent on highlighting McNulty's role in the controversy.

"It clearly seemed deliberate," said Goelman, who was hired to work at Justice Department headquarters during the GOP administration of President George H.W. Bush and continued working for Democratic Attorney General Janet Reno. "He took pains to describe McNulty as someone who was closely consulted and in the loop."

Gonzales also disagreed with his former deputy attorney general, Jim Comey, who earlier this month told a House panel that senior Justice aides may have permanently tarnished the department if they, as alleged, hired career prosecutors based on political affiliations.

"Sometimes mistakes happen," Gonzales said. "This is a great institution that always recovers from those mistakes."

Comey, testifying at a Senate panel at almost the same time, said he had a high opinion of Gonzales _ and most of the U.S. attorneys who were fired.

"He was smart and engaged," Comey said of Gonzales. "I did not have reason to question his judgment as attorney general."

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