Lawyer to Continue Inquiry Into Prosecutor's Firing

The report found that Arkansas U.S. Attorney H.E. "Bud" Cummins was asked to resign to make room for Timothy Griffin, a former deputy in the White House political affairs office and a onetime aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, the report said. Department officials misled Congress about the timing and reasons for the move, investigators said.

In Missouri, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves apparently got sacked because he would not intercede in a dispute between his brother, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), and staff members to Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), according to the report. In fall 2004, friction had emerged between Sam Graves's chief of staff and an aide to Bond, the report said, but when the U.S. attorney declined to get involved, the Bond aide replied that the senator "could no longer protect" his job.

Investigators wrote that "each senior official we interviewed claimed that others must have made the decision."

They also concluded that Sampson had engaged in misconduct for playing down his role in the firings -- at one point, he told them he was merely an "aggregator" of the views of others -- and for making a series of misleading statements to Justice Department supervisors, to lawyers in the White House counsel's office and to Congress. Investigators flagged a letter dated Feb. 23, 2007, forwarded to the Senate, which made the claim, later amended, that Rove did not play a role in selecting one of the replacement prosecutors.

Rove and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers did not consent to interviews, and White House officials rejected attempts by investigators to review internal memos that administration aides had prepared last year. Emmet T. Flood, deputy counsel to President Bush, said in a letter to investigators that the material they sought is "sensitive" and involves "confidentiality interests of a very high order." The lawyer stopped short of citing executive privilege for declining to turn over the documents, perhaps because the Justice Department watchdogs are part of the executive branch.

Bradford A. Berenson, an attorney for Sampson, said his client "cooperated fully and voluntarily with any and all investigators, without preconditions and provided his best, most honest and complete recollection of these events."

Meanwhile, George J. Terwilliger III, an attorney for Gonzales, said the former attorney general had "engaged in no wrongful or improper conduct." He blasted the department's leaders for extending the investigation and said: "There's not a scintilla of evidence in that report that suggests criminal wrongdoing" by Gonzales.

Dannehy's primary focus will be the ouster of Iglesias, a former Navy lawyer and onetime GOP star in New Mexico. Domenici and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) made calls to complain about him, the report said.

Iglesias said yesterday that he is pleased with the decision to continue the investigation, adding, "I hope the Department of Justice never goes down this road again."