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<DIV>CNN Breaking:</DIV>
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<H3>Former aide disputes Gonzales' claim of non-involvement in attorney
firings</H3>
<P>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The man who resigned this month as chief of staff to
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday disputed comments by his former
boss who has said he wasn't involved in the process of dismissing eight U.S.
attorneys.</P>
<P>Kyle Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he and Gonzales began
talking about the firings in early 2005.</P>
<P>"He and I had discussions about it during the thinking phase of the process.
Then after the sort of more final phase of the process in the fall of 2006
began, we discussed it," Sampson testified.</P>
<P>In an NBC interview on Monday, Gonzales said, "When I said on March 13 that I
wasn't involved, what I meant was that I -- I had not been involved, was not
involved in the deliberations over whether or not United States attorneys should
resign." (Posted 4:27 p.m.)</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>