WP:Subpoenas Likely for Justice Officials in Prosecutor Firings

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Senate Democrats said yesterday they are preparing to subpoena five senior Justice Department officials as part of a widening probe into whether eight U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons.

The fallout from the investigation into why the prosecutors were dismissed continued yesterday. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) hired a top defense attorney to handle a related probe by the Senate ethics committee, which is investigating allegations that he pressured a New Mexico prosecutor to bring indictments against a Democrat just before the November elections.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote today to authorize subpoenas for Justice officials, including Michael A. Battle, who carried out the firings, and Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Republicans are likely to exercise their right under committee rules to delay the issue for a week, several aides said. But Democrats said the subpoena push signals their intent to continue digging into the firings.
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"Now that it's clear that there was a concerted effort to purge an impressive crop of U.S. attorneys, the next step is to identify and question those responsible for hatching this scheme to use U.S. attorneys as pawns in a political chess game," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030701546.html

Lawmakers Face Inquiries Over Fired Prosecutors
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Prosecutors.html