New E-Mails Shed Light On Firings

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales clung to his job as documents his Justice Department sent to Congress spelled out fears in the Bush administration that the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys might not stand up to scrutiny.

Particularly worrisome, according to some references in the 3,000 pages of e-mails and other material released late Monday, was the prospect of former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins testifying before Congress.

"I don't think he should," Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, wrote in a Feb. 1 e-mail. "How would he answer: Did you resign voluntarily? Who told you? What did they say?"

Cummins was relieved as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Ark., and replaced by Tim Griffin, a former assistant to top White House aide Karl Rove.

The e-mails show Gonzales to be "out of the loop," reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante.

Republican officials – at the request of the White House – have reportedly begun interviewing candidates to succeed Gonzales.

According to CBS News partner Politico.com, the candidates being considered by administration officials to replace Gonzales include White House anti-terrorism coordinator Frances Townsend, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein, federal appeals judge Laurence Silberman, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and PepsiCo attorney Larry Thompson, who was the government's highest ranking black law enforcement official when he was deputy attorney general during Mr. Bush's first term.

Republican sources involved in the search told Politico.com's chief political correspondent Mike Allen that it may come down to who will
take the job and who can be confirmed.