Timeline

February 2005: The idea to replace U.S. attorneys was first floated by White House counsel Harriet Miers in February 2005. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "rejected that idea as impractical and disruptive." [1] Karl Rove "vaguely recalls telling Miers that he also thought firing all 93 was ill-advised." [2]

March 2005: A counselor to Attorney General Gonzales, Kyle Sampson (who went on to become Gonzales' chief of staff in September 2005) sent an e-mail to Miers that ranked all 93 U.S. attorneys. Strong performers "exhibited loyalty" to the administration; low performers were "weak U.S. attorneys who have been ineffectual managers and prosecutors, chafed against Administration initiatives, etc." A third group merited no opinion. [3]

December 2005: The Department of Justice, through Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), adds Section 502 to the Patriot Act reauthorization bill, making it possible to replace U.S. Attorneys permanently without Senate confirmation. Senator Specter states that he wasn't aware of this provision.

January 2006: Sampson sends the White House the first list of seven candidates for dismissal, including four who were fired at year's end: Margaret Chiara, Bud Cummins, Carol Lam, and Kevin Ryan. The list also recommended Timothy Griffin, a former aide to Karl Rove, as a replacement.

March 2006: The Patriot reauthorization bill passes Congress and is signed into law.

June 2006: U.S. Attorney for Arkansas' Eastern District Bud Cummins is asked to resign.

August 2006: Some Justice Department officials discuss "bypassing the two Democratic senators in Arkansas, who normally would have had input into the appointment." [4]

September 2006: Sampson puts together a second list of candidates to be fired, totaling nine. Bud Cummins, he said, was "in the process of being pushed out." Six of those nine, including Cummins, were among the eight ultimately fired in December. Sampson writes to Miers saying that "I am only in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out if we really are ready and willing to put in the time necessary to select candidates and get them appointed." He urged using the Patriot Act provision in order to get their "preferred person" appointed. [5]

October 2006: New Mexico U.S. attorney David Iglesias is added to the list, "based in part on complaints from Sen. Pete V. Domenici and other New Mexico Republicans that he was not prosecuting enough voter-fraud cases." President Bush mentions complaints about voter-fraud investigations to Gonzales in a conversation in October 2006. "Gonzales does not recall the conversation, Justice Department officials said." [6]

November 2006: Karl Rove learns that the eight prosecutors are being replaced. [7]

December 4th, 2006: Sampson emails the White House "with a copy to Ms. Miers outlining plans to carry out the firings, stating "we would like to execute this on Thursday, Dec. 7." Because some U.S. attorneys were still in Washington attending a conference, he planned to postpone telling them they were being fired. He writes, "we want to wait until they are back home and dispersed to reduce chatter." [8]

Mid-December, 2006: Sampson suggests that Gonzales use the Patriot Act provision to put Karl Rove's former aide Timothy Griffin in place until the end of Bush's term. "[I]f we don't ever exercise it then what's the point of having it?" he writes to a White House aide. [9]

March 6, 2007: Sen. Chuck Schumer called a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine whether the Department of Justice was politicizing the hiring and firing of US Attorneys. Four former US Attorneys served as witnesses: H.E. "Bud" Cummins III, David C. Iglesias, Carol Lam, and John McKay. Carol Lam, testified on behalf of these four individuals. Patrick Leahy made a statement comparing the Bush Administration's actions to Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" of Archibald Cox.

March 12, 2007: Sampson resigns, "after acknowledging that he did not tell key Justice officials about the extent of his communications with the White House, leading them to provide incomplete information to Congress."
- Sampson had worked with Gonzales as deputy White House counsel from 2001 through 2003. He then moved on to the Justice Department as a counselor to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, moving up to become chief of staff in September 2005.
- It is unclear whether Sampson will be available to congressional investigators now that he has resigned.

March 13, 2007: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says that he had no personal knowledge of the discussions involving individual U.S. attorneys, but that he "accept[s] that mistakes were made" in the decision to replace some U.S. attorneys.