Coleman joins call for Gonzales' ouster

WASHINGTON - Political pressure against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intensified Thursday as Democrats proposed a no-confidence vote and a fifth Republican senator -- Minnesota's Norm Coleman -- called for his resignation over a plan to fire U.S. attorneys.

"I don't believe that Gonzales has the type of leadership that the department needs," Coleman said, calling into question Gonzales' credibility and his ability to focus on his job.

Coleman said Thursday that he was disturbed to learn that former Minnesota U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger was included on a list of prosecutors to be considered for dismissal.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who called in March for Gonzales' resignation, asked on Thursday for an investigation into why the Justice Department considered firing Heffelfinger.

Heffelfinger, who left office in February 2006, said he resigned voluntarily and had no idea he was targeted.

The Star Tribune learned his name was on a March 2005 firing list, and a congressional aide said Thursday that the Justice Department considered replacing him one month before he left.

The aide, who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, saw Heffelfinger's name on an unedited version of an e-mail sent to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers. The e-mail was sent on Jan. 9, 2006, by Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, recommending firings. The e-mail was made public previously, but some names were redacted.

McClatchy News Service has learned that the top prosecutors in Macon, Ga., and Roanoke, Va., landed on a proposed firing list weeks after the White House and Justice Department traded notes about the potential for voter-fraud cases in central Georgia and Appalachia. Maxwell Wood of Georgia and John Brownlee of Virginia were added to a list just days before last November's midterm election. They ultimately were not fired, but nine prosecutors were.

Heffelfinger said Wednesday that he couldn't give credibility to a source who speaks on condition of anonymity, or speak about a document that he hasn't seen himself.

"And as I have previously stated, all my dealings with the Department of Justice, including a private meeting with the attorney general only six months earlier -- six months before January of 2006 -- were very supportive of both my work in Minnesota and my national work on behalf of Native Americans," he said.

Rachel Paulose, who had a brief stint at the Justice Department, was named interim Minnesota U.S. attorney in March 2006 and confirmed by the Senate in December.

Gonzales has been under siege for four months because of Justice's shifting explanations for the prosecutor dismissals last year. Documents released by the department showed the effort was based in part on their loyalty to the Bush administration and its policies.

'I don't have confidence'

Coleman, who faces reelection next year, cited damaging testimony by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey as part of the reason for his call for Gonzales' departure. Comey told a Senate panel on Tuesday that Gonzales, when he was White House counsel, pushed a secret national security order over the objections of the Justice Department, which believed the program was illegal.

"I don't have confidence in Gonzales," Coleman said in a conference call. "I would hope that the attorney general understands that the department is suffering right now, and he does the right thing, and that is allows the president to provide new leadership."

Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York called for a full Senate vote on a largely symbolic resolution expressing a lack of confidence in Gonzales. The vote, they said, could come as early as next week.

The Democrats' announcement followed remarks by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, predicting Gonzales may resign after the panel finishes its investigation of the firings of the federal prosecutors.

President Bush has said he has full confidence in Gonzales, and the attorney general has said he plans to stay in his post as long as he can be effective.

Klobuchar 'appalled'

Speaking in support of Heffelfinger on the Senate floor Thursday, Klobuchar said she was "angry and appalled" to learn that the Justice Department considered firing him.

As a former Hennepin County prosecutor, Klobuchar and Heffelfinger often worked together. She said their two offices came to see each other as "partners in justice."That is why I am so appalled that Tom Heffelfinger was targeted for firing," she said. "I take Tom at his word and we've talked many times in the past few months that he had made a decision to leave the office and never knew he was on such a list."

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, asked Gonzales last week to provide documents and communications regarding changes in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office.

Brady Averill is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau: 1-202-383-0015. The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and McClatchy News Service contributed to this report.

Brady Averill • baverill@startribune.com