Former U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden of Nevada, right, listens to the testimony of ex-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday in Washington. Photo by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON -- Almost three months after being told to clean out his desk, Daniel Bogden seemed finally to get a straight answer on Tuesday as to why he was removed as chief federal prosecutor in Nevada.

Not that it made him feel any better.

Testifying under oath before a House Judiciary subcommittee, a top Justice Department official said there were "no particular deficiencies" in Bogden's performance as U.S. attorney for the Nevada district.

Rather, "given the importance of the district in Las Vegas," William Moschella said, "there was an interest in bringing renewed energy and renewed vigor in that office, really taking it to the next level."

Bogden sat alongside five other former U.S. attorneys whose firings and that of three others have ignited Democratic charges that the moves were politically motivated.

Discussing the six one by one, Moschella told lawmakers that most were replaced for reasons of "policy, priorities and management." The reason was disputed strongly by the prosecutors, and Democratic lawmakers said they remained unconvinced.

Carol Lam of San Diego was let go because her prosecution of gun cases and immigration cases lagged, Moschella said. John McKay of Seattle had relentlessly promoted an information system that headquarters did not want to implement. David Iglesias of New Mexico handed over too much control to assistants, he said. Paul Charlton of Arizona defied superiors on a death penalty case and taped confessions in child molestation cases against Justice policy, Moschella said.

Job performance was not cited as a reason for firing Bogden, nor for Bud Cummins of Little Rock, Ark., who was replaced by an assistant recently returned from Iraq who had worked in the White House under Karl Rove.

Given a chance to speak, Bogden told the committee that after serving 16 1/2 years in the Justice Department, including more than five years as chief prosecutor for Nevada, it was a "very traumatic and emotional time" after being told his government career essentially was over.

"Now I finally today get an explanation as to why I was asked to step down. It is not a whole lot of solace to realize I was asked to step down so new blood could be put in my position.''

"My question is, what happened to the old blood?" Bogden said. "I think I have been an outstanding leader for the district. I think we have accomplished things that we needed to accomplish and followed through on what the attorney general wanted as far as priorities."

Bogden, who began serving in October 2001, noted the evaluation conducted of his office in 2003 had been positive.

More recently, on June 3, 2005, he said he received a letter from Mary Beth Cannon, then-director of U.S. attorneys, containing high grades for his work chasing white collar crime, drugs, public corruption, organized crime, identify theft and crime in Indian country.

Moschella's explanation appeared at odds with what his superior, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, indicated to Congress last month. McNulty said that the firing of Bogden was "performance based."

It also appeared to differ from what Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he was told by Justice Department officials. Ensign could not be reached Tuesday evening.

An aide to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said there were "huge discrepancies" in Justice Department testimony on Bogden that the panel may follow up on.

Bogden testified that after receiving the firing call on Dec. 7 from Michael Battle, director of the executive office of U.S. attorneys, he inquired why.

He said he was given a reason by acting Associate Attorney General William Mercer, a friend and a U.S. attorney from Montana.

"He said the administration has a very short two-year window of opportunity for United States attorney positions," Bogden said. "And that this would be an opportunity to put others into those positions so they could build their resumes and get experience so that for future possibilities of becoming federal judges or other political type positions they could better handle it."

"So you were told you were being fired to make way for some Republican loyalist or political up-and-comer who the administration wanted to pad their resume?" said Rep, Melvin Watt, D-N.C.

"That's what it seemed to me," Bogden said.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said Bogden was alleged to be reluctant to chase obscenity in Las Vegas. Bogden said that was not true, noting that child exploitation cases "increased five-fold."

Afterwards, Bogden said he still wonders why he was singled out.

A political appointee could have been put anywhere, although he said Las Vegas was a desirable destination within the Justice Department.

"There are a lot of things the state of Nevada has to offer," he said. "Las Vegas is a glamorous city, and we have so much stuff going on in Las Vegas."