2 other prosecutors considered for ouster

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department last year considered firing two U.S. attorneys in Florida and Colorado, states where allegations of voter fraud and countercharges of voter intimidation have flown in recent years, congressional investigators have learned.

That brings to nine the number of battleground election states where the Bush administration set out to replace some of the nation's top prosecutors. In at least seven states, it now appears, U.S. attorneys were fired or considered for firing as Republicans in those states urged investigations or prosecutions of alleged Democratic voter fraud.

The two prosecutors who were targeted were Gregory Miller, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Florida in Tallahassee, and Bill Leone, the former acting U.S. attorney for Colorado.

Miller appeared on multiple target lists for possible firing from early 2005 through last November, according to a senior congressional aide familiar with Justice Department documents. Miller kept his job.

The congressional aide spoke to McClatchy Newspapers on condition of anonymity because the documents haven't been made public. The Justice Department is allowing congressional investigators only to inspect the documents, not make photocopies or take notes.

The Justice Department declined to discuss either case.

In a brief telephone interview, Miller said he had no inkling that he'd been considered for firing.

"You're telling me something I didn't know," Miller said. "I never heard of any concerns from the administration."

Leone left his job in August 2006 after he was passed over for the permanent post and the Senate confirmed his replacement. That was just a few months before the Justice Department and the White House settled on a final list of prosecutors whose resignations were requested en masse.

It wasn't immediately clear why Miller or Leone were placed on lists kept by Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, or why Miller was spared. Sampson has resigned over the firings controversy.

"We will not publicly confirm whether a particular U.S. attorney may or may not have been on one of Kyle Sampson's lists," said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd, who said the lists represented only Sampson's thoughts during a consultation process.

"Whether they are on any list or not, U.S. attorneys currently serving enjoy the full confidence and support of the attorney general and Department of Justice."

Increasingly, the Democrats leading congressional inquiries into last year's ouster of at least nine U.S. attorneys are focusing on whether Republican pressure to bring voter fraud prosecutions against Democrats influenced the firings.

Democratic lawmakers say pushing voter fraud investigations prior to elections if such fraud doesn't exist can discredit candidates and intimidate voters, affecting results.

The White House and Gonzales have maintained that the firings were appropriate and not motivated by political pressure or retaliation.