Justice Department's number 2 ranking official set to resign

Justice Department's number 2 ranking official set to resign

Josh Catone Published: Monday May 14, 2007

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, the number two ranking official at the Justice Department, will resign by the end of the summer, RAW STORY has learned.

McNulty, who has been the Deputy Attorney General since march 17th, 2006, sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today announcing his resignation. He plans to stay on through the summer or until the Senate approves his successor.

In his resignation letter, he wrote, "The financial realities of college-age children and two decades of public service lead me to a long overdue transition in my career."

However, according to Justice Department aides speaking to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, though McNulty never intended to serve more than two years as the Deputy Attorney General, his decision to step down was ultimately "hastened by anger at being linked" to the US attorney firing scandal.

Earlier this month, the McClatchy Newspapers reported that McNulty "recalled feeling disturbed and concerned" when he found out that the White House had been involved in the prosecutor purge. "McNulty considered the extent of White House coordination to be 'extremely problematic,'" they wrote.

Alberto Gonzales called McNulty a "dynamic and thoughtful leader" in a statement responding to the Deputy Attorney General's resignation.

"Paul is an outstanding public servant and a fine attorney who has been valued here at the Department, by me and so many others, as both a colleague and a friend," said Gonzales.

"Mr. McNulty's resignation is a sign that top level administration at the Justice Department may be crumbling under the pressure of ongoing revelations, and what is yet to be disclosed," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), noting that he was looking
forward to McNulty's cooperation in the attorney purge investigation.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) was unimpressed, saying "Another resignation won't make the unanswered questions about the fired U.S. Attorneys disappear."

"For months, Democrats have been seeking straight answers about the prosecutor purge," he continued. "Democrats will continue our aggressive investigation into this serious matter. Resignations are no substitute for the truth."

McNulty will join Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson on the list of high ranking Justice Department officials who have resigned in light of the US attorney firings.

A copy of McNulty's resignation letter is below: