Do e-mails contradict Sampson's testimony?

WASHINGTON — The attorney general's former top aide identified five Bush administration insiders as potential replacements for sitting U.S. attorneys months before those prosecutors were fired, contrary to repeated suggestions from the Justice Department that no such list had been drawn up, according to documents released Friday.

E-mails sent to the White House in January and May of 2006 by D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, name potential replacements for U.S. attorneys in San Diego, San Francisco, Little Rock and Grand Rapids.

The disclosures contrast with previous statements from Sampson, a former Utahn and Brigham Young University graduate, and other Justice officials. They have said that only Tim Griffin, a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove who was later appointed the top federal prosecutor in Little Rock, had been identified as a replacement candidate before the dismissals of the sitting U.S. attorneys.

"These documents uncover one of the most central and disconcerting contradictions we've seen so far," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. "We have been told that there were no backups in mind to replace the fired U.S. attorneys, and these documents make it clear that there were."

Sampson's attorney and a Justice spokesman said Friday that the candidates listed were only tentative suggestions and were never seriously considered. Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the list "reflects Kyle Sampson's initial thoughts" and "in no way contradicts the department's prior statements" about the lack of a candidate list.

Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that on Dec. 7, when seven U.S. attorneys were sacked, "I did not have in mind any replacements for any of the seven who were asked to resign."

The names of the potential replacements were part of nearly 2,400 pages of documents related to the firings released by the Justice Department Friday. They include more complete versions of e-mails and memos previously released.

The documents provide new details about a range of topics, including the Justice Department's focus on its prosecutors' conservative political credentials and the evolving justifications for the firings.