A report in the Washington Post suggests that Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor assigned by Attorney General Michael Mukasey to look into the U.S. attorney firings, is taking an aggressive approach to the job.
The Post says Dannehy “has been meeting with defense lawyers, dispatching subpoenas and seeking information about the events, according to legal sources familiar with the case.”
It adds: “A grand jury in the District has issued subpoenas, the sources said.”
And there’s another interesting nugget:
D. Kyle Sampson, who served as the chief of staff to Gonzales until his March 2007 resignation, recently took a leave from his job as a partner at the law firm Hunton & Williams while the investigation proceeds. A spokeswoman for the law firm said he is on leave “pending admission to the D.C. bar.”
DOJ’s Inspector General report, released in late September, found that Sampson’s testimony was “not credible” and “unpersuasive.”
Dannehy was appointed September 29 to determine whether crimes had been committed in the affair. She was given 60 days to submit a preliminary report on her findings. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPMmuckraker about the report’s status.