Top Justice Officials Threatened to Resign over Jefferson Kerfuffle

Top officials at the Justice Department, including the Attorney General, were not happy with the prospect that President Bush might order the materials seized from Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) returned:

The Justice Department signaled to the White House this week that the nation's top three law enforcement officials would resign or face firing rather than return documents seized from a Democratic congressman's office in a bribery investigation, according to administration sources familiar with the discussions.

The possibility of resignations by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales; his deputy, Paul J. McNulty; and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III was communicated to the White House by several Justice officials in tense negotiations over the fate of the materials taken from Rep. William J. Jefferson's office, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Justice Department was in the right on this one, and good for them for standing up for their principles. Let's hope the White House doesn't cave on this thing when the 45 day Denny Hastert cooling-off period is over.