http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/314138_mckay03.htmlMcKay's notes detail efforts to 'buy my silence'
By CHARLES POPE
P-I WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON -- As the Justice Department struggled in January to suppress embarrassing stories about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, John McKay received an unsolicited telephone call from a senior official named Michael Elston.
It was a strained conversation, according to a written account McKay provided to the House Judiciary Committee that was released Wednesday in advance of a hearing Thursday. According to McKay, Elston, who was chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, advised him in a "sinister" voice to simply repeat public statements from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales when asked about his firing or face serious consequences.
"I greatly resented what I felt Mr. Elston was trying to do: buy my silence by promising that the attorney general would not demean me in his Senate testimony," said McKay, who was fired as the chief federal prosecutor for Western Washington in December. He did not leave office, however, until Jan. 26.
"I clearly and slowly told Mr. Elston that his description of what the attorney general would be saying would have NOTHING to do with what I said or didn't say publicly. I told him that my silence thus far was because I believed it was my duty to resign quietly because I served at the pleasure of the president, and that I did not want to reflect poorly on him or the Department of Justice. I told him that nothing he could say in Washington, D.C., could demean me in Seattle, and made clear that I did not appreciate his offer."
McKay added: "My handwritten and dated notes of this call reflect that I believed Mr. Elston's tone was sinister and that he was prepared to threaten me further if he concluded I did not intend to continue to remain silent about my dismissal."
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