March 25, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1428

WASHINGTON, March 24: Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales attended a meeting last November that discussed the imminent enacting of a plan to fire US federal prosecutors, the Justice Department said in documents released on Friday.

The documents showed a much greater involvement for Gonzales than previously acknowledged in the controversial dismissal of eight prosecutors that has prompted calls for his resignation and added to pressure on the Bush administration.

One email dated Nov 21, 2006, from Gonzales’ former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, set plans for a meeting for Nov 27 on “US Attorney appointments” and noted it would be held in the attorney-general’s conference room with Gonzales there.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse, asked about the meeting, said it “concerned the rollout of the US attorney plan.”

But he said the information “available to us does not indicate that there was any discussion at this meeting about which US attorneys should or should not be on the list.”

Critics accuse the Bush administration of firing the prosecutors to make room for its allies or because it felt some were too tough on Republicans and too easy on Democrats.

The administration has said while the dismissals were mishandled, they were justified, and it has denied making any threats. Officials also note a president can fire a US prosecutor at any time.

“Another late night document delivery has produced evidence of the attorney-general’s involvement much earlier than he previously acknowledged, as well as clear concern in the Justice Department and the White House for the political fallout,” Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

“This puts the attorney-general front and centre in these matters, contrary to information that had previously been provided to the public and Congress.”Gonzales, also under fire over abuses by the FBI in the gathering of private records, has acknowledged mistakes were made in how the firings were handled but has rejected the calls from Democrats and even some Republicans for his resignation.

President George W. Bush, himself facing heavy criticism and falling approval ratings over his strategy in the Iraq war, has said he maintains confidence in Gonzales.

Roehrkasse said Gonzales had made clear he charged Sampson, who has resigned over the controversy, with “directing a plan to replace US attorneys where, for one reason or another, the department believed that we could do better.”

Roehrkasse said Gonzales was “not, however, involved at the level of selecting the particular US attorneys who would be replaced”.—Reuters