By Ap/KWMU
Washington, DC – A staffer in Sen. Kit Bond's office urged the White House to consider replacing U.S. Attorney Todd Graves in Kansas City two years ago, just months before Graves resigned from the post.
Bond spokeswoman Shana Marchio said Wednesday that former counsel Jack Bartling made the call to the White House Counsel's office in the spring of 2005 without the Missouri Republican's knowledge or approval.
The disclosure comes the same week that the Senate Judiciary Committee announced it is investigating whether Graves was part of a group of U.S. attorneys forced from office for political reasons.
Marchio said Bartling expressed ethical concerns about Graves staying in office after he had been linked to a controversy about the awarding of Missouri license office contracts.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt had awarded lucrative contracts to Graves' wife, Tracy, and his brother-in-law, Todd Bartles, to run the state license offices. The Justice Department concluded in May 2005 that the contracts presented no conflict of interest for Graves. A federal investigation later concluded there was no wrongdoing.
"We have learned that staff in 2005, out of concern at the time over the fee office controversy, contacted the administration to determine whether they would be replacing U.S. attorneys at the end of their initial four year terms, indicating that there might be an interest in doing something different in this position for the second term," Marchio said in a statement.
Bartling, who is now deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department, declined through a spokeswoman to comment.
The Senate committee said Monday it is looking into Graves' resignation based on reports that he was included on a Justice Department list of attorneys targeted for dismissal.
The Senate panel has asked Bradley Schlozman, a former interim head of the Civil Rights Division at Justice, to speak with investigators about whether Graves was replaced because he refused to sign a Justice Department lawsuit alleging voter fraud in Missouri a year before the 2006 election.
Schlozman replaced Graves as interim U.S. attorney in March 2006, just two weeks after Graves resigned to work in private practice. After a year in the Kansas City post, Schlozman returned to the Justice Department and now works for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
Marchio said Bush administration officials have told Bond's office that the call from Bartling was not the reason for Graves' departure. But she said his exit did not appear to be voluntary.
At Graves' request, Bond personally called the White House earlier this year "to gain Todd extra time to wrap up case work before his departure," Marchio said. "Details of why the Administration sought Todd's departure remain unknown to us."
Another U.S. attorney, David Iglesias of New Mexico, was fired last year after Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)complained to Justice Department officials about the slow pace of federal corruption probes in the state.
The call from Bond's office was first reported by The Kansas City Star. Graves said Wednesday that he had some occasional disagreements on strategy with senior officials in the Civil Rights division, but had no inkling he was on a list of attorneys targeted for replacement.
"This would be humorous if we were not talking about the United States Department of Justice," Graves said. "First, you tell me that DOJ staffers were making secret hit lists and my name was on one of them.
"Then, you tell me that a staffer for Missouri's senior senator had a hit list so secret that not even the senator knew about it."
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asked about Graves during a Michigan appearance on Tuesday, said: "I'm not aware he was forced out."
Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti said the call from Bond's office shows politics was at the root of Graves' departure.
"Todd Graves was so wrapped up in the middle of the fee office scheme that it was going to make waves for Kit Bond and other Republicans and the Justice Department made this move for purely political reasons," Cardetti said.
Democrats claim Schlozman filed a 2005 lawsuit alleging voter fraud in Missouri as part of a political effort by Republicans to dampen election turnout. Last month, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying there was no evidence of voter fraud in the state.
Graves said he did not want to speculate on the reasons the White House may have wanted him out, but hinted that his independence may have been a factor.
"When I first interviewed in 2001 with the United States Attorney screening committee at DOJ, I was asked to give the panel one attribute that describes me," Graves said. "I said independent. Apparently, that was the wrong attribute."