The decision to fire the U.S. attorneys en masse was made late last year by two top aides to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales—chief of staff Kyle Sampson and deputy A.G. Paul McNulty—according to a senior department official who asked not to be identified talking about personnel. McNulty may have fueled the controversy when he told the Senate last month that most of the fired prosecutors were let go because of “performance-related issues.” That infuriated some of the dismissed prosecutors (all of them Bush appointees), prompting them to defend themselves. “When I heard him say that, I lit up like a tree,” said one of the prosecutors, who asked not to be identified because of pending congressional testimony. In fact, internal Justice performance evaluations seen by NEWSWEEK show that those who were fired had gotten mostly glowing reviews. Congressional Dems now smell blood. After this week’s hearings featuring the fired prosecutors, “I expect we will have 100 more questions for the Justice Department,” said one Democratic staffer who requested anonymity.
