Kyle Sampson
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| Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy |
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D. Kyle Sampson (born in Cedar City, Utah) was the Chief of Staff and Counselor of United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He resigned on March 12, 2007, amidst the growing controversy surrounding the firing of eight United States Attorneys in 2006.[1]
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[edit] Early career
As a young man, Sampson served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among Hmong refugees who had emigrated from Laos to Minnesota.[2] After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1993, where he met his wife, Noelle,[3] Sampson earned a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996, serving as article editor on the law review.[4] He clerked for Judge Karen J. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then joined the Salt Lake City law firm of Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless.
[edit] Government service
From 1999 to 2001 Sampson served as Counsel to Senator Orrin G. Hatch on the Senate Judiciary Committee. After the 2000 election, Sampson "drew on a friendship he had built in law school with Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of the vice president, to land a job making personnel decisions in the early days of the Bush administration."[5] Later he worked under Alberto Gonzales as Associate Counsel to the President and as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Presidential Personnel. From there, he served as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, and then, in 2003, became Counselor to the Attorney General. In February 2005 he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor of the Attorney General.[6] In 2006 Sampson attempted to get himself nominated to the U.S. Attorney position for Utah. "White House and Justice officials backed Mr. Sampson in his bid to replace Mr. Warner, making that clear to the staff of Senator Hatch. But the senator wanted Mr. Bush to nominate Brett Tolman, a one-time Utah federal prosecutor who had spent the previous three years working on antiterrorism issues for the Judiciary Committee staff....Mr. Hatch finally made a personal appeal to Mr. Gonzales to drop his bid to nominate Mr. Sampson. After a four-month delay, President Bush nominated Tolman for the position in June 2006.[7]
[edit] The U.S. Attorneys dismissal controversy
Sampson and Harriet Miers created a list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired, as shown by emails produced for a Congressional investigation.[8], and coordinated the execution of the plan.[9] Sampson wrote that it would be "weird to ask them to leave before completing at least a 4-year term". He resigned shortly after turning over those emails to Congressional investigators.
As a result of the dismissal of the eight U.S. Attorneys, many senators have called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign as well. Senator Charles E. Schumer, the first senator to call for Gonzales's resignation, believes Gonzales should have resigned instead. According to Schumer, " . . . it raises the temperature. Kyle Sampson will not become the next Scooter Libby, the fall guy," Schumer said, referring to the former vice presidential aide recently convicted of perjury"[10]. The New York Times reported that "Mr. Gonzales, who approved the idea of the group firing, has been under fierce criticism from lawmakers of both parties over the dismissals, which have provoked charges that they were politically motivated."[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Daniel Politi. "The Third Man", Slate.com, March 13, 2007.
- ^ Robert Gehrke, "Right-hand man now a scapegoat?" Salt Lake Tribune, 18 March 2007
- ^ Sridhar Pappu. "On the Firing Line: D. Kyle Sampson was a team player. Tomorrow, Alberto Gonzales's former chief of staff will tell a Senate panel who called the shots", Washington Post, March 28, 2007, p. C01.
- ^ Masthead, University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 63, Number 1-4. Sampson had a student comment published in the law review, "The Fiduciary Duties of Corporate Directors to 'Phantom' Stockholders", 62 U.Chi.L.Rev. 1275.
- ^ Robert Gehrke. "Utahn resigns in controversy over U.S. Attorney firings", The Salt Lake Tribune, Marchy 13, 2007.
- ^ DOJ announcement, February 15, 2005
- ^ Eric Lipton. "Fast-Riser’s High Hopes and Sudden Fall", New York Times, March 13, 2007.
- ^ Dan Eggen, John Solomon. "Firings Had Genesis in White House: Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show", Washington Post, March 13, 2007, p. A01.
- ^ David Johnston. "White House Said to Prompt Firing of Prosecutors", New York Times, March 13, 2007.
- ^ Dan Eggen, Paul Kane. "Gonzales: 'Mistakes Were Made'", Washington Post, March 14, 2007.
- ^ David Johnston. "‘Loyalty’ to Bush and Gonzales Was Factor in Prosecutors’ Firings, E-Mail Shows", New York Times, March 14, 2007.
