FluteMaker

Heffelfinger speculates on why he made firing list
The former U.S. attorney said his focus on Indian issues may have made him unpopular with Justice Department.

By Jake Sherman, Star Tribune

Last update: June 21, 2007 – 11:14 PM


WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Tom Heffelfinger suggested to a Senate committee Thursday that his work on American Indian issues may have been the reason the Bush administration targeted him for dismissal last year.
Heffelfinger resigned before a list of prosecutors targeted for termination was made public.

Five of the seven U.S. attorneys removed in December by the Department of Justice were what Heffelfinger called "leaders" on the Native American subcommittee of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.

Heffelfinger said a focus on American Indian issues put him and others at odds with the department's mission.

"The Native Americans are considered local issues," said Heffelfinger, who is now working on American Indian issues at Best & Flanagan, a blue-chip Minneapolis law firm. "These five people put a lot of effort into Native American issues. That itself is an inherent conflict between a commitment to local issues and a commitment to national issues."

Heffelfinger said that the firings were "not a coincidence." Pressed about the reasons for the dismissals, Heffelfinger told the committee to "ask Kyle Sampson."

Sampson is the former chief of staff to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has come under withering criticism from members of Congress for his handling of the department's dismissals.

Heffelfinger was slated to attend a meeting at the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon but would not say with whom he was meeting.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Heffelfinger's assertions were false, suggesting that Heffelfinger had no evidence linking the firings and work in Indian Country.

No comment on Gonzalez

Senators at the hearing praised Heffelfinger for his commitment to American Indian affairs and lambasted the Justice Department.

"Shame on those people," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

The firings, which have triggered a battle between Democrats and the White House, have put intense pressure on Gonzales. Heffelfinger declined to say whether Gonzales should stay in the job.

"I think that is ultimately an issue for the president and the attorney general," Heffelfinger said after the hearing.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Norm Coleman, a Republican, both voted for a no-confidence resolution on Gonzales. Coleman was one of seven Republicans who voted for the resolution, which got 53 votes, short of the 60 needed to allow full debate.

"Tom Heffelfinger is a straight-up guy who did his job. I continue to think it's outrageous that he was on a list to be fired," Klobuchar said. "Somebody in the Justice Department knows why he was on that list, but they're not telling us."

A former Justice Department official, Monica Goodling, told Congress last month that there was concern within the administration that Heffelfinger was spending too much time on American Indian issues.

Not enough attention

Red Lake tribal chairman Floyd (Buck) Jourdain said Heffelfinger had a significant presence after a school shooting on the reservation in March 2005, but otherwise was not very active.

"We weren't very satisfied with the amount of attention to the Red Lake Reservation or the results," Jourdain said. "There were a lot of issues up there, like drug trafficking and those type of things. We didn't see a lot of action on that.

"Tom did some good things with the tribe working on some Justice grants, but overall we didn't see him spend a lot of time at Red Lake except for the school shootings," Jourdain said.

Red Lake leaders have scheduled a meeting for next week with Minnesota's new U.S. attorney, Rachel Paulose.


Staff writer Mark Brunswick contributed to this report. Jake Sherman • 202-408-2723 • jsherman@startribune.com

__________________

No bomb is smart enough to not kill the innocent.