As Attorney General Alberto Gonzales goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, lawmakers want to know what role other members of the Bush administration played. Here, a look at some of the officials involved:
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Michael Battle: Battle ran the office in Washington, D.C., that oversaw all U.S. attorneys. He was directed to call the seven dismissed prosecutors to inform them that they were to be removed on Dec. 7, 2006.
Battle has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee behind closed doors. According to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Battle told the committee that he was not aware of any performance problems with several of the fired prosecutors until just before he was asked to call them. The Justice Department has said that the prosecutors were fired for performance-related reasons.
Battle also told the committee that Gonzales was at a Nov. 27, 2006, meeting where a memo listing the U.S. attorneys to be fired was distributed, Schumer said. Gonzales has denied seeing that memo. Battle resigned as the scandal emerged, though the Justice Department maintains his departure was long-planned.
Michael Elston: Chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. Elston was part of a senior group at the Department of Justice that was consulted about the U.S. attorney firings. He exchanged e-mails with Kyle Sampson prior to the firings, receiving updates on White House approvals. After the eight attorneys were fired, Elston coordinated when they would leave their jobs.
