Gonzales blames scandal on deputy

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday laid the blame for the U.S. attorneys firing scandal on his outgoing Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who signed off on the final list of those to be terminated.

The news came the day after McNulty tendered his resignation, after serving 18 months as the Justice Department's second-in-command.

"At the end of the day, the recommendation reflected the views of the deputy attorney general," Gonzales said in a speech at the National Press Club. "I mean, again, the deputy attorney general would know best about the qualifications and experiences of the United States attorney community, and he signed off on the names."

McNulty in turn has blamed former Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling, who resigned last month, and others for "failing to inform him of pertinent facts prior to his testimony," according to Goodling's attorneys. The House Judiciary Committee voted to grant Goodling immunity for her testimony on the firings as part of their investigation.

Utah native D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned as Gonzales' chief of staff in March, initially took the fall for the political furor caused by the firings, describing it as an "unfortunate combination of poor judgments, poor word choices and poor communication and preparation for the department's testimony before Congress."

Sampson also told the Senate Judiciary Committee in March that he was only the "list-keeper" and that the names on it came from elsewhere in the department and were reviewed.

Congress is investigating what went into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year, particularly the White House's involvement, after different reasons emerged as to why and how the prosecutors were fired. McNulty told Congress the firings were "performance-based," but the attorneys forced to resign were told something different and had good performance records.

Some of the attorneys have also testified before Congress that there may have been political undertones to their terminations, based on cases they were handling at the time.

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week, Gonzales said the list of attorneys to be fired came from a consensus of senior leadership. Gonzales, in the committee testimony, said he takes responsibility for the situation.

But in a question-and-answer session Tuesday at the National Press Club, Gonzales pointed the finger at McNulty.