McKay: Justice official tried to buy silence

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By Associated PressSEATTLE (AP)

- A top Justice Department official tried to win the silence of fired Seattle U.S. Attorney John McKay during a "sinister" phone call in January, McKay said in response to written questions from the House Judiciary Committee.

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"Mr. Elston proceeded to make a number of statements using a familiar tone which I did not appreciate in light of the circumstances, and related that 'no one could believe that they had not seen any incendiary comments from John McKay,"' McKay wrote.

Elston went on to mention that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would be testifying, but that "OPA" - the White House's Office of Political Affairs - had told the Justice Department not to say anything beyond general statements about the resignations.

"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," McKay wrote. "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. ...

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The complete set of written responses is posted at www.judiciary.house.gov, the Committee's website.