Paul K. Charlton

Paul K. Charlton was one of seven U.S. attorneys dismissed on December 7, 2006 by the Bush administration in 2006 for "performance-related issues" (see Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy). ] Subsequent disclosures revealed that that three or more additional attorneys were dismissed under similar circumstances between 2005-2006. Charlton was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for the United States Attorney's Office District of Arizona on November 6, 2001. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/217.html] Charlton was informed of his dismissal by Justice Department official Michael A. Battle on December 7, 2006, and announced his resignation on December 19, 2006, effective January 31, 2007.

Charlton's office had been honored with the Federal Service Award and hailed by the Justice Department as a "model program" for its protection of crime victims. [cite news | first = Max | last = Blumenthal | title = The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors | publisher = The Nation | date = 2007-03-20 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/blumenthal ] Charlton ranked in the top third among the nation's 93 US attorneys in contributing to an overall 106,188 federal prosecutions filed in 2006; scored in the top third in number of convictions; oversaw a district in the top five highest in number of immigration-related prosecutions; ranked among the top 20 offices for drug prosecutions; and, unlike in the other seven cases, ranked high in weapons cases, prosecuting 199 of the United States' 9,313 such cases in 2006, the tenth-highest in the country and up four-fold from 2002. [cite news | first = Lara Jakes | last = Jordan | title = Fired U.S. attorneys ranked above peers in prosecutions | publisher = Associated Press | date = 2007-03-21 | accessdate = 2007-03-22 | url = http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/NEWS08/703210440 ] [cite news | first = Kevin | last = McCoy | title = 3 fired prosecutors were in top 10 for convictions, federal data show | publisher = USA Today | date = 2007-03-22 | accessdate = 2007-03-26 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070322/1a_bottomstrip22x_dom.art.htm ]

United States attorney

In September 2006, it became clear that Charlton had launched an investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz, over a land-swap deal. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, subsequently included Charlton on a list of U.S. attorneys "we now should consider pushing out." [cite news | first = Ron | last = Hutcheson | title = Emails detail plans for firing U.S. attorneys | publisher = McClatchy Newspapers | date = 2007-03-13 | accessdate = 2007-03-14 | url = http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16897082.htm ] Sampson made the comment in a Sept. 13, 2006, letter to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers. [cite news | first = Max | last = Blumenthal | title = The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors | publisher = The Nation | date = 2007-03-20 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/blumenthal ]

As recently as February 2005, Charlton had been on the so-called "retain" list.

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 William W. Mercer, 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. [cite news | first = Mike | last = Madden | title = Renzi inquiry at issue in ouster | publisher = Arizona Republic | date = 2007-03-21 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0321usattorney0321.html ]

The Wall Street Journal explained further allegations: that the Department of Justice intentionally delayed part of the investigation of Renzi until after the November 2006 election. They wrote:

The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations....

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....

...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] ....cite news | title=Delays in Renzi Case Raise More Gonzales Questions | author = John R. Wilke | coauthors=Evan Perez | date=April 25, 2007 | page=A2 | url=http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117746770608481484-srrsK50Cy6ieok4EIJGcFSnMnek_20070502.html?mod=blogs]

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.

On April 24, 2007, Charlton revealed to House investigators that Brian Murray, 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, however, had not previously notifed Congress of the contact. [cite news | title=Lawmaker Leaves Panels After FBI Raid | author=Jennifer Talhem | publisher=Associated Press | date=April 24, 2007 | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042401667.html]

A second motivation for removing Charlton may have been the suggestions of Justice official Brent Ward, who said in a September 20, 2006 e-mail that Charlton was "unwilling to take good cases." Ward's reason for discounting Charlton appeared to be the US attorney's reluctance to pursue obscenity charges against adult video manufacturers in connection to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force. [cite news | first = Max | last = Blumenthal | title = The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors | publisher = The Nation | date = 2007-03-20 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/blumenthal ]

Charlton had clashed with the Bush Administration over the death penalty; in at least two cases he did not seek capital punishment but was overruled from Washington. [cite news | title = Charlton exit linked to death penalty push | publisher = Associated Press | date = 2007-02-10 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/41569.php ] [cite news | first = Richard A. | last = Serrano | title = U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington | publisher = Los Angeles Times | date = 2007-03-11 | accessdate = 2007-03-26 | url = http://www.latimes.com/wireless/avantgo/la-na-usattys11mar11,0,414171.story ]

After a disagreement over initiating the tape-recording of interviews and confessions by the FBI on American Indian reservations, which Charlton supported and the Justice Department opposed, Charlton offered to resign. In his congressional testimony on March 6, 2007, Charlton said he found "no small amount of irony" in the fact that he was eventually fired. [cite news | first = Richard A. | last = Serrano | title = U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington | publisher = Los Angeles Times | date = 2007-03-11 | accessdate = 2007-03-26 | url = http://www.latimes.com/wireless/avantgo/la-na-usattys11mar11,0,414171.story ]

Charlton has since become partner at Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A., in a practice that involves general business law and criminal defense with an emphasis on corporate compliance and Indian law issues. [cite news | title = Local people | publisher = Arizona Republic | date = 2007-02-24 | accessdate = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/0224phx-localpeople0224Z3.html ]

See also

* Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
* Alberto Gonzales
* Kyle Sampson
* Rick Renzi

References

External links

[ [http://www.charltonslawyers.com.au Charltons Lawyers ] ]