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Heffelfinger’s own name was on that list, compiled by Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In a January 2007 e-mail to a group of justice officials, Sampson said Heffelfinger and others “had no federal prosecution experience when they took the job,” Heffelfinger said, while speaking at a Hennepin County Bar Association meeting.
The comment drew laughter from the nearly 300 attorneys gathered — Heffelfinger resigned from his second stint as U.S. attorney for Minnesota last year and was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1982 to 1988.
“What is happening in Washington D.C. right now ... it’s very sad,” Heffelfinger said. “It’s also clear to me that something is fundamentally broken within the Department of Justice that goes to the core value of delivering services in all 93 federal judicial districts.
“Congress is absolutely within its right and properly looking into why this happened and providing solutions if possible,” he said.
Heffelfinger’s comments came a day after former Justice Department White House liaison Monica Goodling told the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating the firings of U.S. attorneys that there was a concern Heffelfinger was spending too much time on American Indian issues.
Heffelfinger acknowledges he worked hard on those issues, saying he was asked by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to lead a subcommittee on Native American issues.
He said he was especially outraged to hear that his name was mentioned as early as January 2006 — nearly a year after a school shooting claimed 10 lives on the Red Lake reservation in northwestern Minnesota.
“The fact that some allegedly responsible official or officials in Washington at Main Justice now believe that I should have been removed for spending too much time focused on the public safety of Native Americans is outrageous, and it’s shameful,” Heffelfinger said, receiving applause.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said that after the release of thousands of pages of documents and extensive public hearings and interviews, “there is not a shred of evidence that the Attorney General asked for the resignation of any individual in order to interfere with or influence a particular prosecution for partisan political gain.”
Heffelfinger announced in February 2006 that he was resigning as U.S. attorney. He said he resigned for personal reasons, and received no indication that there were problems with his performance.
In fact, he said, as late as the fall of 2005 he had a private meeting with Gonzales and Sampson in which he outlined his priorities for Indian Country.
“If the attorney general had concerns about my performance, or Sampson had concerns, he had the time (to say so). He had the place. And that was the perfect time and he didn’t do it,” he said.
Heffelfinger said he would not comment on Wednesday’s revelation that political ties were a factor in the appointment of his successor, Rachel Paulose.
Paulose had no comment on the happenings in Washington, or on her own priorities for prosecuting crime in Indian Country, saying only that there have been many misrepresentations about her record, and she remains focused on her office’s priorities.
“I have no comment on these other matters, which have nothing to do with our office,” she said.
During his speech, Heffelfinger talked about the need for U.S. attorneys to balance the priorities of the Justice Department with the local needs of their respective states. He said 33 — about one third — of the federal judicial districts deal with American Indian issues.
Of the nine U.S. attorneys ultimately fired — five served on the Native American issues subcommittee with him, he said.
George Goggleye Jr., chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said he believes Heffelfinger fought hard to reduce crime on native lands.
“Not all the high profile crimes happen in Indian Country, but when they do, yeah, he gave us attention because that’s his job,” Goggleye said. “To be criticized ... as a result of it, that really raises some eyebrows in Indian Country.”
He said Heffelfinger helped establish the Heartland Safe Trails Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional group that has helped put some American Indian gang members and drug dealers behind bars.
But Heffelfinger wasn’t always a champion for the American Indian cause.
Kevin Washburn, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota, said American Indians weren’t happy when Heffelfinger worked on proposals that limited gambling.
“But the Red Lake prosecution should have taken a lot of his time. That is the most serious crime that occurred in the state of Minnesota during his tenure. His office was the only one with the jurisdiction.
“That’s presumably exactly what we would want him to do.”
Heffelfinger said the work he did in Red Lake paid dividends when the shooting happened because he was able to get resources on the ground quickly.
“I find it outrageous that after that, they would still say you are spending too much time on Native American issues,” he said.
He also acknowledged that U.S. attorneys are political appointees and serve at the pleasure of the president.
“This is not politics — this is the quality of justice being delivered by the Department of Justice,” he said.
Mrs ELois Poole Clayton wrote on May 26, 2007 8:38 PM: