US Attorneys targeted for Indian Country work

Law | Politics

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Bush administration wanted to fire former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger as late as January 2006, just a month before he announced his resignation, according to a Department of Justice investigation released on Monday.

Heffelfinger was targeted by political appointees in Washington, D.C., because he was "overly focused" on Indian issues, the report said. Besides serving as U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, home to nearly a dozen tribes, he was chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at DOJ.

In that role, Heffelfinger spent a significant amount of time on issues like crime, jurisdiction, domestic violence and gaming. Despite praise in Indian Country, however, his name appeared twice on lists of federal prosecutors to be fired.

The only complaint about Heffelfinger was his "focus on Native American issues," the report said. He stepped down on March 1, 2006, and "had no idea" that he could have been fired, according to the report.

Paul Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona, didn't show up on a firing list until September 2006. Like Heffelfinger, Charlton fell out of favor with appointees in Washington because he implemented a policy to record interviews of federal crime suspects.

"He said that establishing a tape recording policy in his district would assist in the prosecution of the many violent crime cases occurring on the Indian reservations," the report said. Arizona is home to nearly two dozen tribes.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, a former U.S. Attorney, complained about Charlton's policy, leading to a disagreement that went to officials in Washington. Along with a dispute over a case in which Charlton did not want to pursue the death penalty, the two issues were the basis for his eventual removal in December 2006.

Another former U.S. Attorney was targeted for her work on Indian issues as well. But the removal of Margaret Chiara, who served the Western District of Michigan, was primary based on rumors that she was involved in a lesbian relationship with an assistant federal prosecutor, according to the report.

Chiara, who replaced Heffelfinger as chair of the Native issues subcommittee, was targeted for removal as early as March 2005, the report said. Gossip initiated by subordinates about the non-existent relationship drew the attention of DC appointees.

Leslie Hagen, the assistant federal prosecutor at issue, was also hindered, according to an earlier DOJ report. She was prevented from working on Indian issues due to her rumors about her relationship with Chiara despite her dedication to punishing domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse offenders on reservations in Michigan.

Hagen, who was not identified by name in yesterday's report, "prosecuted matters that no one else ... wanted to prosecute [and] she did so in a location far from the main office requiring considerable travel, and that she worked long hours."

The Western District's primary offices are hundreds of miles from reservations in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Chiara and Hagen were criticized for traveling far distances together for work affecting the Native issues subcommittee and Indian Country, the report said.

The report by the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility at DOJ blamed former attorney general Alberto Gonzales for allowing young political appointees with little experience to guide the firing process. Two of his aides -- Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson -- were singled out by investigators.

Goodling previously told Congress that Heffelfinger was targeted for removal because he spent "too much time" on Indian issues. She did not cooperate with the investigation, the report said.

Sampson was a former White House aide who played a role in the firing of special trustee Tom Slonaker back in 2002. U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a federal prosecutor to continue the investigation and possibly determine whether Sampson and Gonzales lied about their involvement in the scandal.

Nora R. Dannehy, the prosecutor, is expected to make a preliminary report within 60 days about the firing of David Iglesias, the former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico. Iglesias, whose father is from a tribe in Panama, was removed after Sen. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico), who is retiring this year, complained that he wouldn't prosecute state Democrats before the November 2006 election.

DOJ Report:
An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006 (September 2008)