Justice Dept reviewed CIA leak prosecutor: paper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While Patrick Fitzgerald was prosecuting the CIA leak case, his name appeared on a Justice Department chart that was the first step in an effort to identify U.S. attorneys who should be removed, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Justice Department ranking of Fitzgerald, which was sent to the White House in March 2005, listed him among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" and put him below "strong U.S. attorneys . . . who exhibited loyalty" to the administration, but above "weak U.S. attorneys who ... chafed against administration initiatives, etc.," the Post said, citing Justice documents.

The Justice Department on Monday night delivered to Congress 3,000 pages of documents related to the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys.

The reference to Fitzgerald was part of a memo that the department has refused to turn over to Congress, the Post reported, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Critics say the Bush administration fired the prosecutors to make room for Republican allies. Democrats say the attorneys angered powerful Republicans, partly by pursuing corruption probes against Republican lawmakers, and that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales fired them in retaliation.

Fitzgerald's investigation resulted in the perjury conviction this month of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff.

Fitzgerald was looking into who blew the cover of ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame. No one was charged with blowing her cover. Evidence at Libby's trial showed that he and several other White House and State Department officials leaked Plame's identity to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to build a case for invading Iraq.

The Post said documents show two prosecutors who received the same Justice Department ranking as Fitzgerald were later fired, although the ranking did not mean they were recommended for removal at the time. Two prosecutors who got high rating were later fired.

"Pat Fitzgerald has a distinguished record as one of the most experienced and well-respected prosecutors at the Justice Department. His track record speaks for itself," Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos told the Post.

In a statement accompanying the release of documents to Congress, Scolinos said, "The department did not remove the U.S. attorneys for improper reasons, such as to prevent or retaliate for a particular prosecution in a public corruption matter."

Fitzgerald was named special prosecutor in the CIA leak case in December 2003. He had been widely recognized for his pursuit of criminal cases against al-Qaeda before the September 11, 2001, attacks, and he drew up the official U.S. indictment against Osama bin Laden, the Post said.