Second Republican says atty general should go

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A second congressional Republican on Thursday recommended U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales be replaced in the wake of a political firestorm for the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

At the same time, newly released documents showed the administration believed most of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys were "loyal Bushies," and Gonzales was aware of the possible dismissals of others in late 2004 while White House counsel.

Mostly Democratic critics have charged the ousters last year appeared to have been politically motivated, and many have said Gonzales should step aside.

A number of Republicans have also voiced concerns. But Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon on Thursday became just the second Republican in Congress to signal it was time to replace him.

"He (Smith) has suggested that it would be helpful to have an attorney general that Congress could have more confidence in," a Smith spokesman said. On Wednesday, Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire urged Bush to fire Gonzales.

The documents released Thursday also showed that senior White House adviser Karl Rove had been involved in discussions about the possible firings in January 2005. One prosecutor later dismissed was replaced by a former Rove aide.

With Congress investigating, President George W. Bush voiced confidence in Gonzales this week and said the firings were justified. But Bush also said the matter was mishandled and Gonzales needed to go to Congress to answer questions.

Lawmakers have tangled with Gonzales before on matters from easing protection of civil liberties to helping shape policies blamed for contributing to torture of terrorism suspects.

Two e-mails released by the administration on Thursday included one dated January 9, 2005. It was from Kyle Sampson, who resigned this week as Gonzales' chief of staff, to David Leitch, then a member of the White House counsel's office.

In it, Sampson wrote he had "discussed briefly" possible firings in December 2004 with Gonzales, shortly before he was elevated from White House counsel to attorney general.

A Justice Department spokeswoman responded to the disclosure, saying: "The attorney general has no recollection of any plan or discussion to replace U.S. attorneys while he was still White House counsel."

"Of course, discussions of changes in presidential appointees would have been appropriate" after Bush's re-election a month earlier, she said.