A March 20 New York Times article on the Justice Department's second release of emails relating to the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys bore the headline “E-Mail Shows Performance, Not Politics, Prompted Attorney Firings, Officials Say.” But, while “officials” may “say” that the U.S. attorneys were fired because of performance deficiencies, evidence reported in the article contradicts their claim. Indeed, the article reported that “a top Justice Department official who oversaw the dismissals said he had never even reviewed the performance of a prosecutor, Daniel K. Bogden of Nevada, who was summarily removed.” Moreover, the article also claimed that one of the recently released emails “appears to confirm” that former U.S. Attorney Carol C. Lam of San Diego was dismissed because of “personal and policy differences.” Yet the article ignored a separate email suggesting that partisan motivations led to Lam's firing.

The misleading headline appeared in some early editions of the Times, including the Washington, D.C., print edition. An updated version of the headline, which appears to have run on the front page of the Times' New York City edition and online, reads: “New E-Mail Gives Details on Attorney Dismissals.”

Contrary to the early version of the article's headline, Times reporters David Johnston and John M. Broder noted that performance did not appear to play a role in at least one firing, that of Bogden. From the article, as it appeared in the Washington edition:

While Justice officials continue to insist that the removals were performance-related, an e-mail message released Monday night showed that even top officials were not certain of the rationale for some firings. In a December 5 e-mail message, Paul J. McNulty, the deputy attorney general, admitted that he had not even reviewed the record of Mr. Bogden, and appeared to have mixed feelings about removing him.

“I'm still a little skittish about Bogden,” Mr. McNulty wrote to D. Kyle Sampson, Mr. Gonzales's chief of staff, noting that Mr. Bogden had never worked outside of government and was counting on a longer tenure.

“I'll admit [I] have not looked at his district's performance,” Mr. McNulty added.

The article's flaws were not confined to the headline, however. The article did not report that McNulty testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that performance played no role in forced resignation of H.E. “Bud” Cummins III, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. As Media Matters for America noted, 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 in December 2006. In a December 19, 2006, email, Sampson wrote: “Getting him [Griffin] appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc.” -- a reference to Rove and then-White House counsel Harriet Miers.

Furthermore, the Times article reported that "[a] sarcastic internal e-mail message from one top Justice department official to another appears to confirm that personal and policy differences drove the termination of Carol C. Lam." The article continued:

After a colleague said in a July 8 e-mail message that he was “sad” about something, Bill Mercer, a top Justice Department official, jokingly suggested some reasons.

“That Carol Lam can't meet a deadline,” he wrote, “or that you'll need to interact with her in the coming weeks or that she won't just say, 'O.K. You got me. You're right, I've ignored national priorities and obvious local needs. Shoot my production is more hideous than I realized.' ”

While the Times claimed this particular email chain “appears to confirm” that Lam was fired over “personal and policy differences,” the article ignored evidence suggesting that partisan motivations led to Lam's dismissal. For instance, in a May 11, 2006, email to the White House counsel's office -- sent one day after Lam had notified the Justice Department of her intention to issue further search warrants relating to the conviction of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) -- Sampson suggested it was time seek Lam's replacement. In the email, Sampson referred to "[t]he real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires." While the Times' opinion page has noted Sampson's email, its news division has yet to mention it.