NYTimes: Gonzales Met With Advisers On Ouster Plan (NEW INFO)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/washington/24attorney.html?hp

Gonzales Met With Advisers on Ouster Plan

The meeting, 10 days before the dismissal of seven U.S. Attorneys, appears to contradict the attorney general’s previous statements on the subject.

By DAVID JOHNSTON and ERIC LIPTON
Published: March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON, March 23 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and senior advisers discussed the plan to remove seven United States attorneys at a meeting last Nov. 27, 10 days before the dismissals were carried out, according to a Justice Department calendar entry disclosed Friday.

The previously undisclosed meeting appeared to contradict Mr. Gonzales’s previous statements about his knowledge of the dismissals. He said at a news conference on March 13 that he had not participated in any discussions about the removals, but knew in general that his aides were working on personnel changes involving United States attorneys.

Tasia Scolinos, a Justice Department spokeswoman, told reporters on Friday evening that Mr. Gonzales’s attendance at the hourlong meeting was not inconsistent with his past remarks. “He tasked his chief of staff to carry this plan forward,” Ms. Scolinos said. “He did not participate in the selection of the U.S. attorneys to be fired. He did sign off on the final list.”

Ms. Scolinos said the meeting was in Mr. Gonzales’s conference room at the Justice Department. The meeting focused on “rollout” of the dismissals, she said, and from available records was not a meeting in which a final target list was determined.

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"The latest e-mail shows preparations for the Nov. 27 meeting at 9 a.m. to discuss “U.S. Attorney Appointments.”

Department officials said that the participants at the only formal meeting known
to have been held to discuss the firings included:

Mr. Gonzales;
Paul J. McNulty, the deputy attorney general;
Mr. Sampson; Monica Goodling, the department liaison to the White House;
William Moschella, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs;
and Michael A. Battle, then head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys.
Mr. Battle has since resigned, and Ms. Goodling has taken a temporary leave of absence."

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