Paul McNulty

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Paul McNulty
McNulty.jpeg
32nd United States Deputy Attorney General
In office
March 17, 2006 July 26, 2007

In January 2007, shortly after a number of U.S. attorneys were fired the same day (December 7, 2006), Congress began investigations. McNulty became a central figure after he told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on February 6, 2007, "that the White House played only a marginal role in the dismissals," a statement that was contradicted by later testimony and subsequently released documents. He also said most of the prosecutors were fired for "performance-related" reasons. That statement angered many of the dismissed U.S. attorneys, most of whom had very positive evaluations, and who had refrained from criticizing the DOJ about their surprise dismissals, and that personal explanation was not forthcoming from the Department justifying their dismissals." [4]

As Legal Times explained: "McNulty's testimony angered three key constituencies in the scandal: the attorney general, Congress, and the fired U.S. attorneys. Gonzales, it would later emerge, was upset that McNulty had essentially disclosed the involvement of the White House in the firing of H.E. "Bud" Cummins III, the U.S. attorney in Arkansas. And members of Congress would note that, in testifying that Cummins had been fired to make way for an acolyte of White House political adviser Karl Rove, McNulty was contradicting an earlier assertion by Gonzales that the firings hadn't been motivated by political reasons.'...It also spurred most of the fired prosecutors to publicly defend themselves...."

Cumins was removed "to make room for Tim Griffin, a Karl Rove protégé who had headed the opposition-research operation at the Republican National Committee. Gonzales was upset, his former chief of staff Kyle Sampson has told congressional investigators, that McNulty's revelation put "in the public sphere" the uncomfortable fact that the White House helped engineer the dismissal." [8]

On March 13, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conceded that McNulty's testimony was inaccurate, "incomplete information was communicated or may have been communicated to Congress." [9]

Senator Charles Schumer said he was told by Justice Department officials that Carol Lam and others were terminated because of "performance-related," but Schumer said, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty later "called me on the phone and said, 'I am sorry that I didn't tell you the truth."' [10]

McNulty, in turn, was said to be angry at being kept out of the loop, and for being misled, telling congressional investigators in private testimony to Congress on April 27, 2007, that "Kyle Sampson, then Gonzales's chief of staff, and Monica M. Goodling, then the department's White House liaison, did not brief him fully before his testimony." [4] [11]

On May 14, McNulty announced his resignation, which took effect July 26, 2007.

On May 28, 2007, Monica Goodling, the Department's White House liaison, was summoned under a limited grant of immunity to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, where she was quick to refute McNulty's earlier charges against her by stating that, in fact, it was McNulty who "had not been fully candid" about the 2006 U.S. Attorney firings.

References

  1. "Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of Paul J. Mcnulty, of Virginia, to be Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice". Government Publishing Office. February 2, 2006.
  2. "Opening Convocation – Grove City College – Hon. Paul J. McNulty '80". Grove City College. September 8, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  3. Jason McLure; Emma Schwartz (May 21, 2007). "At DOJ, a Hard Job to Fill: McNulty's leaving, but the department's problems aren't going anywhere". Legal Times.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Dan Eggen (May 15, 2007). "Justice Dept.'s No. 2 to Resign: McNulty Is 4th to Quit Since Disputed Firings". Washington Post. p. A01.
  5. "FindLaw: McNulty Memo" (webpage). FindLaw. December 12, 2006. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  6. Jones, Ashby (December 12, 2006). "Wall Street Journal Blog: "Thompson Memo Out McNulty Memo In"" (webpage). WSJ. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  7. "Paul McNulty's resignation letter" (PDF). Washington Post. May 14, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  8. Karen Tumulty; Massimo Calabresi (May 10, 2007). "Inside the Scandal at Justice". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007.
  9. "Gonzales acknowledges mistakes in firings: He brushes aside calls for resignation in case involving 8 attorneys". Associated Press. March 13, 2007.
  10. Serrano, Richard A. (March 19, 2007). "Alarm Rises over Firing of U.S. Atty in San Diego". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  11. Johnston, David (May 15, 2007). "Gonzales's Deputy Quits Justice Department". New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
Legal offices
Preceded by U.S. Deputy Attorney General
Served under: George W. Bush

2005–2007
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by9th President of Grove City College
2014–present
Incumbent