Some new news on the Kyle Sampson front. Remember, Sampson is Alberto Gonzales’s former Chief of Staff who resigned on Monday. The following is a statement from Mr. Sampson’s lawyer, Bradford Berenson …
“Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of the U.S. Attorneys. He resigned because, as Chief of Staff, he felt he had let the Attorney General down in failing to appreciate the need for and organize a more effective response to the unfounded accusations that the replacements were improper.”
“The fact that the White House and Justice Department had been discussing this subject since the election was well-known to a number of other senior officials at the Department, including others who were involved in preparing the Department’s testimony to Congress. If this background was not called to Mr. McNulty or Mr. Moschella’s attention, it was not because any of these individuals deliberately withheld it from them but rather because no one focused on it at the time. The focus of preparation efforts was on why the U.S. Attorneys had been replaced, not how.”
Update: Compare and contrast with Sampson’s very similar, yet significantly different, statement out last night. – PK
