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The Feb. 28 e-mail noted that Domenici already had been contacted by McClatchy Newspapers that morning about his role, but that he hadn't yet confirmed that he'd called Iglesias.
As for Sampson's January 2006 e-mail, he listed several candidates as possible replacements for then-U.S. attorneys Kevin Ryan of San Francisco, Carol Lam of San Diego and Bud Cummins of Arkansas. Justice Department officials had acknowledged firing Cummins to make way for former Rove aide Timothy Griffin, but denied any larger strategy to replace more independent prosecutors with White House-connected lawyers.
In testimony March 29 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sampson was asked by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., whether he had specific replacements in mind last Dec. 7, when seven of the prosecutors were asked to resign. Sampson responded that he did not - nor, he said, did he remember any other administration official proposing candidates.
"In fact, I remember, senator, as we were finalizing the list, I remember saying, not knowing who will be the replacement, `Do we still want to go forward with asking these seven to resign?'" he said.
In his e-mail 10 months before Dec. 7, however, Sampson proposed replacing Lam with either Jeffrey Taylor, currently the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and once a counselor to Gonzales, or Deborah Rhodes, now the U.S. attorney in Mobile, Ala., who then was a Justice Department counselor and prosecutor. Sampson also floated the idea of replacing Ryan with Daniel Levin, former acting assistant attorney general, for the office of legal counsel.
On Friday, Schumer described Sampson's testimony as "very lawyerly" but told reporters that the e-mail "makes it clear they did have a list of replacements."
"The questions for the attorney general continue to mount," Schumer said. "The issue of replacements now becomes a central question he will be asked."
Sampson's attorney, however, denied that the e-mail contradicted his client's testimony before Congress. Attorney Bradford Berenson said Sampson had no one in mind when the U.S. attorneys were eventually fired last December.
"Some names had been tentatively suggested for discussion much earlier in the process, but by the time the decision to ask for the resignations was made, none had been chosen to serve as a replacement," he said. "Most, if not all, had long since ceased even to be possibilities."
Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, contended that the e-mail didn't contradict previous statements by Justice Department officials. He noted that Sampson wrote question marks after the names on the list.
"The list, drafted 10 months before the December resignations, reflects Kyle Sampson's initial thoughts, not pre-selected candidates by the administration," he said.
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