Elston: Just Passing A Couple Names Along

The Washington Post reported this morning that Michael Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, had suggested five U.S. attorneys to be fired in November of last year, just a month before the firings.

Now Elston’s lawyer is saying that you got him all wrong. Elston didn’t mean for those U.S. attorneys to be fired. No. He was just passing along some names suggested to him by others. Totally different. From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

“At no time did Mike ever believe that any of the U.S. attorneys mentioned in the Nov. 1 e-mail should be dismissed,” Driscoll said in a statement. “To the contrary, Mike’s view is that the five U.S. attorneys mentioned in the e-mail are among the department’s best.”…

Elston simply passed on the names suggested to him by others after he was asked in October to find out if concerns existed about any U.S. attorneys that top Justice Department officials were not aware of, according to Driscoll.

“Mike did what was requested of him, and forwarded the names that others had suggested,” Driscoll stated. “…Mike recommended that they not be added to the list of those whose resignations would be requested, and to his knowledge, they never were.”

You can read Elston’s email here. Funny, I’m not seeing “Don’t Fire These Prosecutors” in the subject line (actually, it’s “Other Possibilities”).

Note: Elston’s suggestions, remember, were the most curious — including Mary Beth Buchanan, Pittsburgh’s U.S. attorney, who’s very close to the department leadership and was even consulted on which U.S. attorneys should be fired.