Gonzales taps White House lawyers as aides
WASHINGTON -- Though declaring his independence from President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has chosen as top aides three lawyers from the White House counsel's office he headed for four years.
Theodore Ullyot, Gonzales' chief of staff, and Raul Yanes, his chief counsel, moved over to the Justice Department with Gonzales earlier this month. Kyle Sampson, the deputy chief of staff, worked for Gonzales in the White House until 2003 and has been at the Justice Department since.
The three top aides have to recused themselves from investigations due to the new appointments.
Underscoring the closeness of the ties, Ullyot, Yanes and Gonzales helped coordinate the White House response to the Justice Department investigation of who leaked the name of a CIA employee to the media. Since moving to the department, the three men have recused themselves from the investigation.
There is no independence between the Department of Justice and President Bush White House.
"I voted against him because I thought the role of attorney general required some independence," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "Now that he's there, I'll work with him. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. If he comes in to us the way John Ashcroft did - `Take it or leave it' - it won't be fruitful."