NY Times left out reported contradiction by former DOJ official of key Gonzales assertion

An April 16 New York Times article headlined " 'Nothing to Hide,' Gonzales Insists Before Hearing," which previewed Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' upcoming testimony before Congress on the scandal involving the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, reported that Gonzales would claim "he had 'nothing to hide' and that none of the prosecutors were removed to influence the outcome of a case," but did not report that a former Justice Department official involved with the firings has reportedly made statements undermining a key assertion Gonzales has made. The article noted that Gonzales "is certain to be asked on Tuesday about his own recollection of events" and that "Michael A. Battle, the former director of the department's United States attorney liaison office," has apparently contradicted Gonzales' claim that he "was not involved in seeing any memos," and "was not involved in any discussions about" the dismissals. However, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Battle -- the official who informed the U.S. attorneys that they were to be fired -- told the committee that shortly before the firings, he was unaware of "performance problems" with all but one of the fired U.S. attorneys, even though Gonzales has claimed that the prosecutors were dismissed for performance reasons. By contrast, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Associated Press all reported Schumer's statements about Battle.

On January 18, Gonzales suggested in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the firings were performance related. Responding to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Gonzales stated of the dismissals: "What we do is we make an evaluation about the performance of individuals, and I have a responsibility to the people in your district that we have the best possible people in these positions." In a March 7 USA Today column, Gonzales further asserted: "To be clear, it was for reasons related to policy, priorities and management -- what have been referred to broadly as 'performance-related' reasons -- that seven U.S. attorneys were asked to resign last December." And, as Media Matters for America has previously noted, then-deputy attorney general Paul McNulty testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 6 that the dismissals were "performance-related," with the exception of H.E. "Bud" Cummins III, who was fired before December. Indeed, McNulty testified that Cummins' resignation was forced "to provide a fresh start with a new person in that position." This "new person" was J. Timothy Griffin, a former aide to White House senior adviser Karl Rove who replaced Cummins as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas in December 2006. As Media Matters has also noted, a majority of the dismissed U.S. attorneys had received positive performance evaluations before being fired.

But in reporting on Gonzales' upcoming testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Gonzales is to be questioned on numerous apparently conflicting statements regarding the dismissals of the U.S. attorneys, the Times did not report that Schumer said Battle -- who oversaw the 93 U.S. attorneys -- stated he had no knowledge of performance problems with all but one of the fired U.S. attorneys, around the time in which he dismissed them. Reports vary as to whether Battle told the committee he "was not aware of performance problems with respect to several of the U.S. attorneys" the day of or just prior to firing the prosecutors in question. Instead, the Times article reported only that Battle "has told Congressional staff members that Mr. Gonzales was at the meeting when a memorandum was circulated that provided a detailed outline of the plan to dismiss the prosecutors." By contrast, The Washington Post noted that, according to Schumer, Battle told congressional investigators that he "was aware of performance-related issues only with Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney for San Francisco":

The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year told Congress that all but one of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

The statements to House and Senate investigators by Michael A. Battle, former director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, represent another potential challenge to the credibility of Gonzales, who has said he never saw any documents about the firings and had "lost confidence" in the prosecutors because of performance problems.

[...]

Gonzales and his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, initially told Congress that the firings were due to "performance-related" problems. Subsequent e-mails and other documents released by Justice showed that most had positive job reviews, that they and other U.S. attorneys were ranked on whether they were "loyal Bushies," and that Gonzales was more deeply involved in the process than he has acknowledged.

The statements by Battle, who left his job last month, are the first details to emerge from more than 20 hours of interviews with four top Gonzales aides over the past two weeks by staff members on the House and Senate Judiciary committees. The last of those interviews was conducted yesterday with Sampson, who testified publicly last month that he was only an "aggregator" of information on the firings and that ultimate responsibility rested with Gonzales.

Battle told investigators that he was "not aware of performance problems with respect to several" of the prosecutors, until just days before he called to fire them, Schumer said in a conference call with reporters yesterday. Aides later said that Battle, whose job was to supervise the department's 93 U.S. attorneys, was aware of performance-related issues only with Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney for San Francisco.

Schumer said Battle also contradicted Gonzales's assertion at a March 13 news conference that he had not seen any documents or participated in any discussions about the firings. A memo related to the dismissals was passed out at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Gonzales and others, Battle told investigators.

"Mike Battle remembers a memo was distributed," Schumer said.

Similarly, an April 16 Los Angeles Times article noted, "Schumer told reporters that Michael Battle, former head of the Justice Department office that oversees U.S. attorneys, knew nothing about any performance problems of several of those who were fired until shortly before he was directed to call them Dec. 7 and tell them they were being removed." An April 16 Associated Press report also stated that "Battle also said he 'was not aware of performance problems with respect to several of the U.S. attorneys' when he called to fire them, according to Schumer."