White House political advisor Karl Rove was aware of Bush administration's intent to fire attorneys, email message revealed.

An e-mail shows that in 2005 Karl Rove had planned firings of eight US prosecutors who were later were dismissed by the Justice Department, in conjunction with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The email published in Thursday in the Chicago Tribune shows that on January 6, 2005 an e-mail with the subject "Question by Karl Rove" was forwarded to the chief of staff at the Justice Department.

The e-mail asks the receiver "how we planned to proceed regarding US Attorneys, whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them, or selectively replace them, etc." In his reply, Kyle Sampson the then chief of staff at the Justice Department clarified the issue.

"As an operational matter, we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. Attorneys - the underperforming ones," Sampson wrote. "The vast majority of U.S. Attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc."

Subsequently Bush administration dismissed one attorney and then seven others.

Calls have been mounting for Gonzales' resignation, but he has so far resisted it and has said that his fate is in Bush's hands.

There were other reports suggesting that Rove was involved in sacking the attorneys. The Associated Press reported that "complaints about the job performance of prosecutors occasionally came to the White House and were passed on to the Justice Department, perhaps including some informally from President Bush to Gonzales."

The AP also reported that President Bush's former legal advisor "floated the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys at the start of President Bush's second term." [AP, 3/13/07]

In the case of the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, "Presidential advisor Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman" to remove the official, report says.

Democratic National Committee believes that prosecutors were fired for purely political reasons. In Seattle, Washington, John McKay was fired because the White House became displeased over his inaction during a 2004 recount in the gubernatorial race.

In Albuquerque, N.M., Republican officials protested all the way to the White House when David Iglesias resisted efforts from Senator Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson to wrap up a corruption investigation before the 2006 election for their own partisan purposes.

In Little Rock, Ark., H.E. "Bud" Cummins III was pushed aside, he was told, to make room for a Bush campaign aide and former assistant to Karl Rove. In San Diego, Carol Lam convicted Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, only to lose her job.