Subsequent e-mails talk of attorneys being "pushed out" and who "we now consider pushing out." A Nov. 15, 2006, e-mail to Miers contains a detailed five-step plan on how to inform the attorneys that they have been fired, as well as instructions to "prepare to withstand political upheaval."

The Justice Department eventually fired U.S. attorneys in Albuquerque, N.M.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Las Vegas; Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; San Diego; San Francisco; and Seattle.

The e-mails do not say how those attorneys were chosen for termination. But there are allegations the White House picked attorneys who had not been working in accordance with its beliefs and then made the firings look like they were due to poor performance reviews.

Sampson, who graduated from BYU in 1993, had worked at the Justice Department since 2003, when he was appointed counselor to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Gonzales appointed Sampson to be his chief of staff in 2005. He had been serving as deputy chief of staff and counselor since February 2005.

Sampson had also served as chairman of the Justice Department's Task Force on Intellectual Property and as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Before going to the Justice Department he was an associate counsel to President Bush from 1999 to 2001. He also served on the Bush transition team when the president first took office to provide legal advice to the incoming administration. Prior to going to the White House, he was a counsel to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"There is a small moment in time when I can engage in this sort of public service," Sampson said on the BYU Alumni Web page. "I know it will come to an end, so that makes the long hours worthwhile."

He practiced law at the Salt Lake City law firm of Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless and clerked for Judge Karen J. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

In 2006, Sampson was in the middle of a debate as who would replace Paul Warner, U.S. attorney for Utah. The White House and Justice Department pushed for Sampson, while Hatch and other senators wanted Brett Tolman. Tolman eventually won the formal nomination .

Although he finds himself in the middle of a scandal, friends of Sampson have nothing but good things to say about him.

Sheldon Bradshaw, chief counsel for the Food and Drug Administration, has known Sampson since 1996 when the two clerked together for Williams.

"Kyle is just a brilliant guy," Bradshaw said. "He is very conscientious and completely and totally a straight shooter ... I don't know anyone that is more of a straight shooter than Kyle Sampson."

Bradshaw not only worked with Sampson but ended up renting a duplex directly next door to the Sampson family while working in South Carolina.

Bradshaw and Sampson's paths crossed again on the Bush transition team and also when Sampson worked at the White House. The two live about a block from each other now.

Bradshaw said Sampson has had a number of high profile jobs in the administration, "which is hard to do without being bright and you just have to have the highest character."

Tim Flanigan, a former White House deputy counsel, praised Sampson and was surprised by his resignation. He said Sampson was "a fine lawyer, a brilliant legal mind and an honest man."

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Contributing: The Associated Press, New York Times News Services, Cox News Services

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com