No Charges in US Attorney Firings: Report

A Justice Department probe of the firings of a group of US attorneys is ending without recommending charges against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or anyone else, the New York Times reports. The investigators' report, to be released today, is nonetheless said to be scathing on the politically motivated firings, and to recommend that a prosecutor look into the role of lawmakers and the White House.

Without power to subpoena people outside the department, Justice investigators were unable to effectively trace where the firing plan originated, and whether perjury or obstruction-of-justice laws were broken, the Washington Post reports. The investigation focused on Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson, who carried out the firings of eight prosecutors, the Times says.
(More Alberto Gonzales stories.)