Concerns over Heffelfinger reportedly raised at Justice

WASHINGTON - Senior Justice Department officials raised concerns about then-U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger sometime after October 2005, according to a congressional aide familiar with what a former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told House and Senate staff members last week.

Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff, provided the information during interviews with congressional investigators, said the congressional aide. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing investigation.

Sampson did not provide details about the concerns, the aide said.

The Justice Department did not return a call or e-mails requesting comment.

Heffelfinger said on Thursday evening that he was angered when he learned -- fourth-hand from a reporter -- what Sampson supposedly had told congressional interviewers. "I was troubled because in my dealings with main Justice, I had no indications that anybody was less than satisfied with my work," he said.

Heffelfinger noted that he was U.S. attorney for Minnesota under Gonzales from January 2005 through February 2006. In the late summer or early fall of 2005, he said, he met with Gonzales, Sampson and other senior Justice Department officials; he was the only U.S. attorney present at the meeting. He said if they were dissatisfied with his work, they certainly could have said so.

"I was told to go forward and continue what I was doing," Heffelfinger said.

He said one of the documents turned over to Congress is an e-mail in which Sampson discusses the firing of U.S. attorneys. In it, Sampson suggests calling them to find out what their plans are before taking any action against them.

"I never received any such calls," Heffelfinger said. He said that he was fairly certain that his resignation took Justice Department officials by surprise and that he did so to get a higher paying job because he needed the money to send his daughter to college.

"If what Sampson said is true, and I say that with a big IF, I don't understand it," he said. "What Kyle Sampson has accomplished is to put me in the position of having to defend myself 14 months after I've left the office. It's frustrating to be put in this situation a year after leaving that job."

Rachel Paulose, who succeeded Heffelfinger, declined to comment on the latest revelations.

Paulose started work in Washington as a senior counselor to the deputy attorney general on Jan. 9, 2006, the same day Sampson e-mailed Harriet Miers, former White House counsel, with the names of four U.S. attorneys who should be removed. Heffelfinger's name did not appear on that list, but three names had been redacted at a later date.

Heffelfinger announced his departure Feb. 14, 2006. Three days later, Paulose was named to replace him on an interim basis, beginning March 1, 2006. The Senate confirmed her appointment as U.S. attorney in December. Paulose said in a previous interview that she had no knowledge of any plans to replace Heffelfinger beforehand, or any other U.S. attorney for that matter.

Eight U.S. attorneys were ultimately replaced, the first last summer, and the remaining seven in December. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department to provide Paulose for an interview on a voluntary basis as it tries to determine the "truth behind these firings." She entered the spotlight earlier this month when three senior attorneys in her office resigned from their management positions and returned to prosecuting.

Neither Heffelfinger nor Paulose has yet been interviewed by either committee, the congressional aide said. Heffelfinger said Thursday that no one in Congress has even asked to interview him.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who worked with Heffelfinger while she was Hennepin County attorney, said, "I find it hard to believe that they would have serious concerns. And if they did, I don't understand what they would be."

The state's other senator, Republican Norm Coleman, said in a statement: "Mr. Heffelfinger is a first-class prosecutor and did an exemplary job as Minnesota's U.S. attorney. I consider him to be a good friend and an outstanding public servant."

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493 Brady Averill is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau: 202-383-0015