Monday, March 12, 2007

Another D.O.J. Official on the Hotseat

Man, it gets worse and worse in the canned attoneys scandal....


Uh-oh. Another Justice Department official is on the hotseat. This time it's Michael J. Elston,

Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.
Fired U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins of Arkansas testified he felt threatened by a phone call from Elston. Elston says it's all a misunderstanding and he's "horrified" by it.

In testimony and in an e-mail to fellow attorneys, Cummins said there was a "threatening undercurrent" to the call. He said Elston warned that the Justice Department would retaliate if the attorneys talked to the media or volunteered to testify in Congress.

Elston said he never intended such a message and recalls only expressing regret that the attorneys issue is "playing out in public."

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