Although Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty cites “the financial realities of college-age children and two decades of public service” in his resignation letter as the reasons behind his “long overdue transition,” it’s apparent to everyone why he’s leaving now, and why he’s been rumored to be on his way out since late March.
…his ultimate decision to step down, [two senior Department of Justice] aides said, was hastened by anger at being linked to the prosecutors’ purge that Congress is investigating to determine if eight U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about McNulty’s decision.
McNulty also irked his boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, by testifying in February that at least one of the fired prosecutors was ordered to make way for a protege of Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser. Gonzales, who has resisted lawmakers’ calls to resign, maintains the firings were proper, and rooted in the prosecutors’ lackluster performances.
