WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- E-mails show the White House was involved in Shirley Sherrod's ouster from the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a conservative Web site attacked her.
The e-mails were obtained by the Washington bureau of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune under the Freedom of Information Act.
Sherrod, a veteran civil rights activist and longtime public official, was forced out after right-wing activist Andrew Breitbart publicized a brief clip from a speech she had given several months earlier to the NAACP. The clip appeared to show Sherrod saying she did not help a white farmer because of his race but proved to be an anecdote she had used to show how she had learned people of all races must work together.
E-mails show White House officials believed Sherrod's speedy departure would keep the story from getting "traction."
"Everyone complimented USDA on how quickly you took this action," Christopher Lu, the liaison to the cabinet, said in an e-mail to the department.
The e-mails do not show whether the White House ordered Sherrod to be fired, the Times said.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and President Barack Obama apologized to Sherrod.
