Reply #16: List of possible targeted lawyers included Wyo's U.S. attorney [View All]

[maddezmom]

List of possible targeted lawyers included Wyo's U.S. attorney
By NOELLE STRAUB
Star-Tribune Washington bureau Friday, May 25, 2007



WASHINGTON -- Justice Department officials last year put Wyoming U.S. Attorney Matthew Mead on a list of federal prosecutors they considered dismissing as they debated which U.S. attorneys to fire.

"I was more than surprised when I heard the news," Mead said Tuesday. He found out about the list late last week.

It remains unclear why Mead made the list. Mead noted that the main author of the list no longer works for the department.

Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and his colleagues drew up lists in 2005 and 2006 of U.S. attorneys they considered for termination. Mead first heard that his name had been on one of the lists through a Washington Post article last week.

Mead had been in Washington to testify at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing the day before the report came out. He called it ironic that he testified at the department's request on Thursday and found out on Friday that he'd been on one of the lists.


more:http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/05/25/news/wyoming/4b8b0aefdc04274a872572e400041ead.txt