Bogden a pawn? Maybe, he says

Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Fired U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden has told a House committee that he cannot rule out that his dismissal was part of an effort to politicize the Justice Department, according to documents released Wednesday.

The comments are the strongest to date by Bogden, who has been reluctant to speculate about why he was among eight attorneys fired by the Justice Department last year. The growing controversy threatens Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job.

In a written response to questions posed by a House Judiciary subcommittee, Bogden said Gonzales and top Justice officials have provided "no reasonable, believable explanation" for his firing and "only offered a number of contradictions."

"As such, I am unable to rule out the possibility that my resignation may have been due, in part, to an effort to politicize the Department of Justice."

Bogden's comments echo frustrations among lawmakers as, one by one, Gonzales and his staff testified that they did not decide which attorneys to fire. Lawmakers speculate that orders came from the White House, which initiated the unprecedented purge.

In responses to the committee, Bogden wrote that Gonzales' No. 2 official, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, told him the decision came from "higher up." Bogden said the No. 3 man at Justice, Acting Associate Attorney General William Mercer, had been "outside the loop." Michael Battle, the executive officer for U.S. attorneys, told Bogden he had been "out of the decision-making process," according to the documents.

Bogden wrote that McNulty told him performance "did not enter into the equation." Mercer told him Justice wanted to give someone else the experience so the "Republican Party would have more future candidates for the federal bench and future political positions."

Justice initially said Bogden and most of the others were fired for performance, but later said he was let go to bring new energy and because of his unwillingness to immediately prosecute an adult obscenity case.

Bogden refrained from speculating which cases or investigations may have gotten him in trouble with the White House, but he referred to news stories that have conjured reasons - from his handling of Republican-related cases in Nevada to Justice's renewed anti-porn campaign.

But he also notes that his obscenity prosecutions had increased 10 - fold since he took office in 2001.