Report: No grand jury for Gonzales

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Justice Department officials do not plan to recommend a grand jury investigation of former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, The Washington Post reports.

However, officials will recommend that a prosecutor continue investigating the role of the White House and members of Congress in the 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys, the newspaper reported Sunday, citing two people familiar with a report to be issued Monday by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility Director H. Marshall Jarrett.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey is expected to appoint a career Justice Department prosecutor to examine questions that remain about the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys.

The impending official report is based on an 18-month review of the matter.

The Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General concluded in July that the hiring and dismissal of U.S. attorneys and other career professionals had been unduly affected by White House political influences.

The investigation was begun in response to allegations in 2006 that several U.S. attorneys were forced to resign for improper reasons, including political or ideological affiliations.