charlton, p

<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="2">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="2">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="2">...</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">In September 2006, it became clear that Charlton had launched an investigation of Rep. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi" title="Rick Renzi" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rick Renzi</a>, R-Ariz, over a land-swap deal. Attorney General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Alberto Gonzales</a>'s chief of staff, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Sampson" title="Kyle Sampson" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Kyle Sampson</a>, subsequently included Charlton on a list of U.S. attorneys "we now should consider pushing out."<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[8]</a></sup>Sampson made the comment in a Sept. 13, 2006, letter to then-White House Counsel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Miers" title="Harriet Miers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Harriet Miers</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Blumenthal_4-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton#cite_note-Blumenthal-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[4]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">As recently as February 2005, Charlton had been on the so-called "retain" list.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On March 19, 2007, the White House released 3,000 pages of records connected to the controversy, including emails sent by Charlton to the Justice Department about his dismissal. On Dec. 21, 2006, Charlton sent a message to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W.Mercer" title="William W. Mercer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">William W. Mercer</a>, the third-ranking official in the department, writing, "Media now asking if I was asked to resign over leak in Congressman Renzi investigation." Charlton never received a response.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[9]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Wall Street Journal</a> explained further allegations: that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" title="United States Department of Justice" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Department of Justice</a> intentionally delayed part of the investigation of Renzi until after the November 2006 election. They wrote:</p><blockquote style="overflow: hidden; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 40px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" title="United States Attorney General" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Attorney General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Alberto Gonzales</a> or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations....</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Investigators pursuing the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year before the election, people close to the case said....</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">...the investigation clearly moved slowly: Federal agents opened the case no later than June 2005, yet key witnesses didn't get subpoenas until early this year, those close to the case said. The first publicly known search -- a raid of a Renzi family business by the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- was[n't] carried out [until April 2007]....<sup id="cite_ref-WSJ-20070425_10-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton#cite_note-WSJ-20070425-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[10]</a></sup></p></blockquote></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" background="background" none="none" rgb="rgb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Controversies">Controversies</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Renzi&action=edit&section=12&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Controversies" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">]</span></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">In September 2006, Renzi was named one of the "20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" in a report by<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_Responsibility_and_Ethics_in_Washington" title="Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington</a>, a non-partisan watchdog group founded in 2005 by former Democratic congressional staffers.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[39]</a></sup> Renzi was also listed in the first report by the organization in January 2006, when he was one of 13 named members. The organization said "His ethics issues stem from the outside income earned by his administrative assistant and from legislation he sponsored that benefitted his father."<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[40]</a></sup> He was subsequently listed in CREW's 2007 and 2008 reports as well.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height: 1; font-size: 11.2px; white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (August 2010)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.6; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Father.27s_company">Father's company</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Renzi&action=edit&section=13&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Father's company" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">]</span></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">Renzi has been criticized for consistently introducing and voting in favor of bills benefiting his father's defense company, ManTech International Corp., a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax,Virginia" title="Fairfax, Virginia" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Fairfax, Virginia</a>,-based defense contractor.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[41]</a></sup> Until his death in February 2008,<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[42]</a></sup> Renzi’s father, Retired Major General Eugene Renzi, was an executive vice president of the firm. ManTech had $467 million in contracts at the Army's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Huachuca" title="Fort Huachuca" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Fort Huachuca</a> with options for an additional $1.1 billion between 2004 through 2008. In addition, the company, which has an office in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Vista,Arizona" title="Sierra Vista, Arizona" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Sierra Vista, Arizona</a>, was the largest contributor to Renzi’s 2002 congressional campaign and the second largest in his 2004 campaign.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">In 2003, Renzi sponsored legislation (signed into law in November 2003) that put hundreds of millions of dollars to Eugene's business while, according to environmentalists, devastating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_River(Arizona)" title="San Pedro River (Arizona)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">San Pedro River</a>. The provision exempted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Huachuca" title="Fort Huachuca" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Fort Huachuca</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Vista,Arizona" title="Sierra Vista, Arizona" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Sierra Vista, Arizona</a>, from maintaining water levels in the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_River(Arizona)" title="San Pedro River (Arizona)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">San Pedro River</a> as called for in an agreement made in 2002 with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Fish_and_Wildlife_Service" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>. Renzi claimed he introduced the measure to prevent the closing of the Fort and to promote its enlargement. Neither the fort nor the river is located in Renzi’s Congressional district.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On October 25, 2006, just two weeks before Election Day, <i>The New York Times</i> reported that federal authorities have opened an inquiry into the case. According to the <i>Times</i>, the "officials said the inquiry was at an early stage and that no search warrants had been issued, suggesting that investigators had yet to determine whether there was a basis to open a formal investigation or empanel a grand jury."<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[43]</a></sup>Federal investigators in Arizona reported that unexplained delays were encountered in getting permission from Washington for investigations prior to the 2006 election.<sup id="cite_ref-wsjwilke_7-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-wsjwilke-7" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On April 19, 2007, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI" class="mw-redirect" title="FBI" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">FBI</a> raided his family business, and he temporarily resigned from the House Intelligence Committee.<sup id="cite_ref-AZ-20070420_4-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-AZ-20070420-4" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On February 22, 2008, Renzi was indicted on multiple federal charges as a result of the investigation.</p><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.6; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="mw-headline" id="2005_land_swap">2005 land swap</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Renzi&action=edit&section=14&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: 2005 land swap" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">]</span></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">According to the <i>Phoenix New Times</i>, in 2002 Renzi sold off a half-interest in his real estate investment business to a fellow investor, James Sandlin, for $200,000. Renzi used the money for his 2002 congressional campaign. In 2003, Renzi sold the remainder of the business to Sandlin, for somewhere between $1 million and $5 million, according to financial records, retaining a "future development interest".<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-44" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[44]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">In October 2005, three years after the business transaction with Sandlin, Renzi announced he'd be introducing a bill in Congress that would include a swap of land owned by Sandlin (not in Renzi's district) for federal land near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence,Arizona" title="Florence, Arizona" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Florence, Arizona</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-45" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[45]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-46" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[46]</a></sup> A week after Renzi's announcement, Sandlin sold his land for $4.5 million,<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-47" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[47]</a></sup> a much higher price than he paid for it.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">Renzi told the <i>New Times</i> that he did nothing wrong and that sometime after his announcement he recused himself from the bill after a lobbyist's questioned his connection to Sandlin. The land swap never became law.<sup id="cite_ref-PNT-10-12-06_31-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-PNT-10-12-06-31" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[31]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">In 2007 news came of another $200,000 payment that Sandlin made to Renzi, this one in 2005, that Renzi failed to report on financial disclosure forms.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-48" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[48]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On October 24, 2006, the <i>Associated Press</i> reported that the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona has opened an investigation into the land swap deal. The US Attorney for Arizona, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton(attorney)" class="mw-redirect" title="Paul K. Charlton (attorney)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Paul Charlton</a>, had initiated the investigation in September 2006.<sup id="cite_ref-thenation.com_49-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-thenation.com-49" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[49]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">John Wilke in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Wall Street Journal</a> writes,<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-50" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[50]</a></sup></p><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">"That investigation has now become a formal public-corruption probe by a federal grand jury in<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson" class="mw-redirect" title="Tucson" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Tucson</a>. On Thursday, the grand jury authorized a search warrant of a Renzi family business. Investigators have uncovered evidence that Mr. Renzi received a cash payment from his former business partner, funneled through a family wine company, after a second investor group pursuing an unrelated land swap agreed to pay $4 million for the alfalfa field, according to people contacted in the course of the two-year investigation.</dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">Mr. Renzi denies any wrongdoing and says that he intends to cooperate with the investigation. The search of the family business, he said in a statement Friday, is "the first step toward getting the truth out." His lawyer says the cash payment he received was to settle an unrelated debt.</dd></dl><dl style="margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><dd style="margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">The case could add fuel to the firestorm over the Bush administration's firing of federal prosecutors late last year. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton(attorney)" class="mw-redirect" title="Paul K. Charlton (attorney)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Paul Charlton</a>, the U.S. Attorney who had been overseeing the case, was among those dismissed at the behest of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House" title="White House" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">White House</a>. A spokesman for Mr. Renzi dismissed as "a political hatchet job" the suggestion that Mr. Charlton's firing was connected to the probe of Mr. Renzi. On Thursday, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_General" class="mw-redirect" title="Attorney General" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Attorney General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Alberto Gonzales</a> told Congress that none of the dismissals were politically motivated, and said the Justice Department is committed to battling corruption."</dd></dl><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On February 22, 2008, a Federal Grand Jury in Arizona handed up a 35-count indictment charging with conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering extortion and insurance fraud.<sup id="cite_ref-cnn2_1-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-cnn2-1" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.6; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy">Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Renzi&action=edit&section=15&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">]</span></span></h3><div role="note" class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy</a></div><table class="wikitable" cellpadding="1" style="padding: 5px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; border: 1px solid rgb(136, 136, 170); border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11.9px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); float: right; width: 300px; background: rgb(255, 248, 247);"><tbody><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 5px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background: rgb(255, 204, 204);"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy</a></b>
( <div class="plainlinks hlist navbar mini" style="display: inline; font-size: 10.472px;"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" display="display" inline="inline" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" text-align="text-align" left="left" line-height="line-height" inherit="inherit" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li class="nv-view" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy" title="Template:Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;"><abbr title="View this template" style="border-bottom-style: none; cursor: inherit; font-variant: small-caps;">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy" title="Template talk:Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style="border-bottom-style: none; cursor: inherit; font-variant: small-caps;">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy&action=edit" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); outline: none; padding: 0px !important; background: none !important;"><abbr title="Edit this template" style="border-bottom-style: none; cursor: inherit; font-variant: small-caps;">e</abbr></a></li> </ul></div>)</td></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Articles</th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy_timeline" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy timeline" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Timeline</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissed_U.S.attorneys_summary" title="Dismissed U.S. attorneys summary" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Summary of attorneys</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy_documents" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy documents" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Documents</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy_hearings" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy hearings" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Congressional hearings</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Dismissed_attorneys_table" title="Template:Dismissed attorneys table" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">List of dismissed attorneys</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Dismissal_of_United_States_Attorneys_controversy" title="Category:Dismissal of United States Attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Complete list of related articles</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);">G. W. Bush administration officials involved</th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_F.Fielding" title="Fred F. Fielding" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Fred F. Fielding</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Counsel" title="White House Counsel" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">White House Counsel</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_K.Kelley" title="William K. Kelley" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">William K. Kelley</a>, Deputy White House Counsel</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Moschella" title="William Moschella" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">William Moschella</a>, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Tolman" title="Brett Tolman" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Brett Tolman</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. Attorney</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_District_of_Utah" title="United States District Court for the District of Utah" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">District of Utah</a>, former counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Buchanan" title="Mary Beth Buchanan" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Mary Beth Buchanan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. Attorney</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Western_District_of_Pennsylvania" title="United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Western District of Pennsylvania</a>, former Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys from 2004 to 2005</li></ul></td></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Involved administration officials who resigned</th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Alberto Gonzales</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" title="United States Attorney General" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">United States Attorney General</a>, former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Counsel" title="White House Counsel" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">White House Counsel</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Sampson" title="Kyle Sampson" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Kyle Sampson</a>, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A.Battle" title="Michael A. Battle" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Michael A. Battle</a>, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Elston" title="Michael Elston" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Michael Elston</a>, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling" title="Monica Goodling" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Monica Goodling</a>, Justice Department's liaison to the White House</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W.Mercer" title="William W. Mercer" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">William W. Mercer</a>, U.S. Attorney, Acting Associate Attorney General (retains position as U.S. Attorney in Montana)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Taylor" title="Sara Taylor" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Sara Taylor</a>, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McNulty" title="Paul McNulty" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Paul McNulty</a>, Deputy Attorney General</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Miers" title="Harriet Miers" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Harriet Miers</a>, former White House Counsel (resigned prior to publicity surrounding the controversy, effective January 31, 2007)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove" title="Karl Rove" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Karl Rove</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Deputy_Chief_of_Staff" title="White House Deputy Chief of Staff" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">White House Deputy Chief of Staff</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Schlozman" title="Bradley Schlozman" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Bradley Schlozman</a>, Director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Office_for_United_States_Attorneys#Executive_Office_for_United_States_Attorneys" class="mw-redirect" title="Executive Office for United States Attorneys" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys</a>; former Acting Assistant Attorney General for, and later Principal Deputy Attorney General for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice_Civil_Rights_Division" title="United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Civil Rights Division</a>; former interim<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. Attorney</a> for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Western_District_of_Missouri" title="United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Western District of Missouri</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_the_Judiciary" title="United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary</a><b>
110th Congress</b></th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Leahy" title="Patrick Leahy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Patrick Leahy</a>, Chair <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(D)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter" title="Arlen Specter" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Arlen Specter</a>, Ranking member, former Chair <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(R)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Schumer" title="Chuck Schumer" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Chuck Schumer</a>, Chair: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Judiciary_Subcommittee_on_Administrative_Oversight_and_the_Courts" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(D)</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Judiciary" title="United States House Committee on the Judiciary" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary</a><b>
110th Congress</b></th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Conyers" title="John Conyers" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">John Conyers</a>, Chair <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(D)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_S.Smith" title="Lamar S. Smith" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Lamar Smith</a>, Ranking member <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(R)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_S%C3%A1nchez" title="Linda Sánchez" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Linda Sánchez</a>, Chair: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Judiciary_Subcommittee_on_Commercial_and_Administrative_Law" title="United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">(D)</a></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">After the land swap controversy was revealed, an unnamed official from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_Justice" class="mw-redirect" title="US Department of Justice" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">US Department of Justice</a> cautioned the media not to jump to conclusions regarding the inquiry into Renzi, saying it "is not a well-developed investigation, by any means. A tip comes into the department. The department is obligated to follow up ... and we do that. People are assuming there is evidence of some crime," even though that is not necessarily true. The official added, "Be careful. I can confirm to you a very early investigation. But I want to caution you not to chop this guy's (Renzi's) head off."<sup id="cite_ref-azcentral.com_51-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-azcentral.com-51" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[51]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Republic" class="mw-redirect" title="Arizona Republic" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Arizona Republic</a>, "The federal official would not discuss whether the Justice Department was being manipulated for political purposes. However, the official said it is unusual for the department to publicly acknowledge concerns about the accuracy of media reports." In the same story, the official said the Justice Department contacted at least two newspapers about "chunks of stuff in their stories that's wrong."<sup id="cite_ref-azcentral.com_51-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-azcentral.com-51" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[51]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shortly after initiating the investigation of Renzi, the <b>US Attorney for Arizona, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton(attorney)" class="mw-redirect" title="Paul K. Charlton (attorney)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Paul Charlton</a>, was added to a list of US attorneys the Justice Department wanted to remove,</b> in an effort that would become the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S.attorneys_controversy" title="Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy</a>.</span> In February 2005, Charlton had been on the "retain" list of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Sampson" title="Kyle Sampson" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Kyle Sampson</a>, Attorney General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Alberto Gonzales</a>'s chief of staff, but "by September of 2006 — after it became clear that Charlton had launched an investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz, — Sampson included the Arizona prosecutor on another list of U.S. attorneys 'we now should consider pushing out.'"<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-52" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[52]</a></sup> Sampson made the comment in a September 13, 2006, letter to then-White House Counsel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Miers" title="Harriet Miers" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Harriet Miers</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-thenation.com_49-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-thenation.com-49" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[49]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">On March 19, 2007, the White House released 3,000 pages of records connected to the controversy, including emails sent by Charlton to the Justice Department about his dismissal. On December 21, 2006, Charlton sent a message to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mercer" title="Bill Mercer" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Bill Mercer</a>, the third-ranking official in the department, writing, "Media now asking if I was asked to resign over leak in Congressman Renzi investigation." Charlton never received a response.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-53" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[53]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">The <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Wall Street Journal</a></i> explained further allegations: that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" title="United States Department of Justice" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Department of Justice</a> intentionally delayed part of the investigation of Renzi until after the November 2006 election. They wrote:</p><blockquote style="overflow: hidden; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 40px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" title="United States Attorney General" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Attorney General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales" title="Alberto Gonzales" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">Alberto Gonzales</a> or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations....</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Investigators pursuing the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year before the election, people close to the case said....</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">...the investigation clearly moved slowly: Federal agents opened the case no later than June 2005, yet key witnesses didn't get subpoenas until early this year, those close to the case said. The first publicly known search — a raid of a Renzi family business by the Federal Bureau of Investigation — was[n't] carried out [until April 2007]....<sup id="cite_ref-WSJ-20070425_54-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-WSJ-20070425-54" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[54]</a></sup></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;">Further, the Journal noted that investigators had lobbied Washington for clearance to tap Renzi's phone for months. That clearance was only given in October 2006, but unfortunately for the investigators, word broke of the investigation soon after, disrupting their wiretap.<sup id="cite_ref-WSJ-20070425_54-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-WSJ-20070425-54" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[54]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.4px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On April 24, 2007, Renzi stepped down from the <b>House Financial Services and Natural Resources committees, </b>as more revelations connected him to the U.S. attorneys controversy. During that afternoon,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_K.Charlton_(attorney)" class="mw-redirect" title="Paul K. Charlton (attorney)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Paul Charlton</a>, the US Attorney from Arizona who was one of those fired, related to a House investigators that Brian Murray</span>, Renzi's top aide, called Charlton spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle shortly after news of Renzi's investigation became public, asking for information on the case. Charlton, in turn, notified the Department of Justice about the call. Justice, in turn, had not previously notified Congress of the contact.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.2px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi#cite_note-55" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); outline: none; background: none;">[55]</a></sup></p></div>