Bogden was ‘very good,’ ex-official testifies

WASHINGTON -- A former Justice Department official heaped praise on ousted U.S. attorney Dan Bogden on Thursday and said he was unaware of any issues that might have triggered Bogden's firing as head of the Nevada district.

Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey portrayed Bogden as a aggressive prosecutor who was tough on violent crime.

"I thought he was a very good U.S. attorney," Comey said. "He was straight as a Nevada highway and a fired-up guy."

Comey's testimony to a House Judiciary subcommittee painted a much different picture of Bogden than one that has been offered to Congress by department officials who fired the Nevadan in December.

They said Bogden was replaced because "new energy" was needed in Las Vegas.

Comey, second in command at Justice from 2003 to 2005, told lawmakers that only one of the eight U.S. attorneys dismissed last year had performance problems and that he was unaware of plans to fire poor performers.

He spoke especially highly of Bogden. Comey called ousted prosecutor David Iglesias "the Bogden of New Mexico" and said he had been pleased with the work of those men, plus four other ousted prosecutors who testified before the same committee in March.

He said he was never consulted during hits tenure about a plan to remove some prosecutors, but he was asked to identify the U.S. attorneys he would consider "weak."

Only one of the eight fired last year, Kevin Ryan of San Francisco, was identified by Comey as a weak performer.

Comey said Bogden was "doing a bang-up job" in combating violent crime.

Las Vegas was one of 15 locations where the Justice Department put in place its Violent Crime Impact Team program, an initiative in areas that had seen a surge in violent crime.

"We wanted to put it where we had a fired-up U.S. attorney who could watch over it and make it work and had a great relationship with state and local law enforcement," Comey said. "That's why we chose Mr. Bogden in Las Vegas."

Within six months, Bogden had made "tremendous strides" with the program, he added.

"He was loved in that community," Comey said. "I thought he was very good."

Iglesias and Paul Charlton of Arizona also took part in the violent crime program, and Comey had glowing words for both of those men.

He praised John McKay of Seattle for his effort in creating an information-sharing computer network for law enforcement agencies and said Carol Lam of San Diego did well.

He said he knew little about H.E. "Bud" Cummins III of Arkansas and did not discuss Margaret Chiara, fired from her post in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Comey is now general counsel for Lockheed Martin.

Democrats suspect the prosecutors were fired for political reasons, but Rep. Chris Cannon of Utah, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, criticized the months-long investigation.

"So far this seems to be a fishing expedition that's came up dry," Cannon said.

Comey said he met with Kyle Sampson, then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, for about 15 minutes on Feb. 28, 2005, to discuss attorney performance.

Two days later, Sampson e-mailed a list of U.S. attorneys to White House counsel Harriet Miers indicating which prosecutors were recommended for removal.

Bogden was identified on that list as a prosecutor who made no positive or negative impression.