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Justice Dept.'s No. 2 to Counter Claims of Untruths Over Firings
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That claim angered many of the former U.S. attorneys -- who had received positive job reviews during their tenures -- and helped provoke them to make politically damaging public statements about their experiences. Gonzales and others also maintained that McNulty inaccurately stated that the U.S. attorney in Little Rock was removed to make way for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, e-mails and other documents show.
The attacks on his veracity have been deeply troubling to McNulty, who prides himself on a reputation for honesty and candor, according to friends and colleagues.
"I think he's a man of high integrity, and I think it has devastated him to get caught up in this," said former career federal prosecutor Robert A. Spencer, who worked for McNulty in Alexandria and who prosecuted al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui.
One Justice official and longtime McNulty colleague said the deputy attorney general has effectively been punished for telling the truth about the Arkansas firing and other matters. "He's probably being maligned in the minds of some because he was honest, and that's a shame," said the official, who declined to speak on the record because of ongoing investigations of the firings.
McNulty tendered his resignation in May, citing the "financial realities" of more than two decades in public service, including 11 years as a staff lawyer in the House and nine years at the Justice Department. He did not have a job lined up at the time and is still interviewing with law firms, according to colleagues. Justice officials said he plans to leave the department in late August.
Many lawmakers from both parties believe that McNulty has been scapegoated by Gonzales and his inner circle.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), one of seven Republicans to vote for a no-confidence resolution on Gonzales this month, said that the deputy attorney general is a "sound guy" who does not bear the brunt of the blame for the mass firings and the fallout. "He's been caught in the switches," Specter said this week.
Senate Democrats have also lauded him. "Paul McNulty came clean with this committee and gave us some valuable information, while the attorney general stonewalled," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last month.
Washingtonpost.com staff writer Paul Kane and Washington Post staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
