FIRING SQUAD. The three attorneys also weighed in yesterday on the shifting rationales for their firings that have come from the Bush administration in the five months since they were asked to resign. "I once thought that the request for my resignation was based on my position in relation to the death penalty and the FBI and taped confessions, and now I'm not sure," Paul Charlton, the fired attorney from Arizona, told the crowd. McKay said the reality that their firings were political in nature didn't become glaringly obvious until months later.
"To this day I don't know who fired me or why. I asked and was not given any reasons on Dec. 7," said McKay. "March 6 was the first time that it became clear that it really wasn't poor performance, it was policy disagreements."
And new justifications for their firings keep arising.
Charlton fielded a question on the allegations (subs. req'd) that the Department of Justice stalled on the investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), but offered little in the way of new information or thoughts on whether he thinks that investigation factored into his dismissal.
"I can say that there is and was an investigation, and I guess that's a long-winded way of saying it's an ongoing investigation, and it's one that I can't give any more detail on."
