Hatch, White House at odds over attorney for Utah

WASHINGTON (AP) — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is among several key Republican senators challenging the White House over the selection of a new U.S. attorney for Utah.

The White House is pushing Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a former White House counsel and Judiciary Committee staffer.

The senators favor Brett Tolman, a longtime prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah now working on Patriot Act renewal under Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

One of them is expected to replace former U.S. Attorney Paul Warner, who resigned last month to become a U.S. magistrate.

Tolman has the endorsement of Hatch and Specter, as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Judiciary Committee member Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, two congressional sources familiar with the discussions said. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also has called the White House on Tolman's behalf.

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett has not weighed in, said a spokeswoman.

"I have the highest respect for Kyle and Brett. Both are experienced Utah lawyers with impressive backgrounds," Hatch said. "But for this particular position, I believe Brett has the right experience to serve as Utah's lead federal prosecutor."

Sampson may have the inside track, having worked in the White House personnel office and the counsel's office, where decisions on nominations are made.

Sampson has been chief of staff to Gonzales since last year, and before that was counselor to Attorney General John Ashcroft. In those roles he helped write briefs for a number of prominent cases and helped craft a broad array of administration policies.

He is one of Gonzales' closest advisers. Sampson was among a small group of attorneys seated behind Gonzales when the attorney general testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month on the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program.

While Sampson lacks Tolman's experience as a prosecutor, David Jordan, a former U.S. Attorney for Utah, said it is not essential to the job.

"Kyle's a smart lawyer and he'll be a quick study. . . . The one quality that is most in demand in the job is good judgment, and you can develop good judgment by getting experience in many different ways," Jordan said.

Jordan said he doesn't know Tolman and was not endorsing either candidate. The White House declined comment.

Tolman joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2000 in the violent crimes division. In 2001, he became coordinator for Project Safe Neighborhoods, a push to reduce gun violence that resulted in the prosecution of hundreds of weapons cases and earned him honors from the Justice Department.

He was chief of the violent crime and firearm unit before being sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he was counsel for crime and terrorism, first for Hatch and now for Specter. His recent focus has been on the reauthorization of the Patriot Act and national security issues.