Senate panel seeks Rove e-mails on prosecutors

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was subpoenaed on Wednesday to produce any e-mails he may have from White House political adviser Karl Rove related to a widening congressional probe into the firing of federal prosecutors.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, issued the subpoena, noting he asked Gonzales last month if he had any such documents but had yet to receive a response. Gonzales ousted the prosecutors last year as part of a plan that originated at the White House.

The administration contends the firing of eight of the 93 U.S. attorneys last year was justified, though mishandled. U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of a president.

Congressional investigators are attempting to determine if the firings were politically motivated. One of the U.S. attorneys, Bud Cummings, was ousted in Arkansas to make room for Tim Griffin, a former top aide to Rove.

In reaction to the subpoena from Capitol Hill, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "I know they like to get headlines more than they like to get the facts, but if there's still any interest in the facts up there, the easiest way is to simply accept our offer to have Karl and others in for interviews."

In a letter to Gonzales, Leahy wrote, "It is troubling that significant documents highly relevant to the committee's inquiry have not been produced" despite repeated requests.

President George W. Bush rejected bipartisan calls to fire Gonzales following the attorney general's contentious appearance before Leahy's committee last month.

Afterward, lawmakers promised to push on with their investigations.

The Justice Department announced on Wednesday it was looking into whether its former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, considered political affiliation -- in violation of the law -- in deciding who to hire as career prosecutors in U.S. attorney offices nationwide.

Goodling, who was a top aide to Gonzales, resigned last month and invoked her right against self-incrimination in refusing to testify before Congress. A House of Representatives committee is seeking to give her limited immunity to compel her testimony.

PROSECUTORS RESPOND

The House Judiciary subcommittee, which is to hear from former Deputy Attorney General James Comey on Thursday, released written responses it received from six of the fired prosecutors who testified before it in March.

Paul Charlton, dismissed in Arizona, advised the panel that shortly before a Senate appearance by Gonzales this year, he received a call from Mike Elston, a Justice Department official.

"In that conservation I believe that Elston was offering me a quid pro quo agreement: my silence in exchange for the attorney general's," Charlton wrote.

Carol Lam, sacked in San Diego after obtaining a bribery conviction against then-Republican Rep. Duke Cunningham of California, said she was denied a plea for more time on the job.