Report: Political cover sought in firings

WASHINGTON, April 13 (UPI) -- The White House planned to fire all 93 U.S. attorneys to provide political cover for firing a smaller group of prosecutors, National Public Radio said Friday.

Citing a source who has "had conversations with White House officials," NPR said the plan originated with White House political adviser Karl Rove. Documents show the proposal was eventually dismissed as impractical.

The report came as the Justice Department sent Congress a new batch of documents about the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. The documents show Justice Department and White House officials planning the firings and working out ways to control the political fallout, NPR said.

One e-mail from Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, suggested five people -- mostly Justice Department employees -- as possible replacements for fired U.S. attorneys. The e-mail was sent in January 2006, almost a year before the dismissals, and appears to contradict testimony from Sampson that replacements had not been identified before the prosecutors were let go, The New York Times reported.

Sampson's lawyer said he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that no one had been selected to replace the dismissed prosecutors, which was correct.

The documents released by the Justice Department Friday include a spreadsheet that ranks all 93 U.S. attorneys on several criteria, including whether they have experience on Capitol Hill or in political campaigns. The spreadsheet also identifies which U.S. attorneys are members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, NPR said.