Bogden was in her sights

Thursday, May 24, 2007 | 6:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Of all the Justice Department officials who now say they had misgivings about firing Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden, former White House liaison Monica Goodling apparently was not among them.

Goodling told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that she offered up Bogden early as one of the U.S. attorneys who should be fired, suggesting his name when her boss presented a draft list in January 2006.

Goodling pointed to complaints she had heard about the Nevada office's use of the Patriot Act as well as a sense that Bogden had not distinguished himself.

"I simply did not know of any specific accomplishments in his district," Goodling said in written remarks that supplemented her testimony.

Bogden and eight other U.S. attorneys were dismissed last year in an unusual purge that now threatens Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job.

Amid Justice officials' shifting reasons for the dismissals, some lawmakers believe the attorneys were fired to install people more loyal to the Bush administration - a potential problem, because attorneys are supposed to remain neutral in their pursuit of justice.

Goodling, granted immunity for her testimony, offered new insight into the firings, but did not answer the main questions still swirling in the investigation: Who put Bogden and the other federal prosecutors on the list to be fired?

Goodling testified that although she knew of a plan under way in 2005 to fire U.S. attorneys, she did not see a list of names until her boss, Gonzales' top aide , Kyle Sampson, asked for her input on a draft he was sending to the White House in January 2006.

At that point, she suggested that Bogden be added, noting the Patriot Act complaints and a lack of distinguished work from his office.

The Nevada office twice came under fire for its use of the Patriot Act. In 2003 FBI officials outraged Strip casinos by gathering personal information on tourists coming to Las Vegas. Authorities had information about a possible New Year's Eve attack and were generating leads via hotel guest lists, airline manifests and car rental agency records.

The Nevada office also was criticized by Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for using the Patriot Act in the so-called G-Sting bribery investigation that resulted in guilty pleas or convictions of four former Clark County commissioners who took bribes from a strip club owner.

Goodling did not specify which situation she was referring to, and her attorney, reached later Wednesday, could not elaborate.

It is unclear whether Sampson was swayed by Goodling's input. She testified that she did not see Bogden's name appear on the firing list until last September. By then, Bogden had come under scrutiny for not immediately pursuing an adult obscenity case.

As the firings were about to unfold last winter, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty questioned why Bogden was included, asking whether there was a specific problem. Sampson explained that it was more of a general desire that "we can do better," Goodling testified, adding that she was aware that Bogden's "use of the Patriot Act a few years ago ... got a little messy."

Gonzales has since testified that he had second thoughts about firing Bogden. And McNulty has told investigators he regrets not doing more to save Bogden's job.

Bogden, reached by phone Wednesday, said he was never told by his supervisors of a problem in his office's use of the Patriot Act.