May 2 (Bloomberg) -- One of the eight U.S. attorneys fired last year says he was told his dismissal was necessary to let a Republican lawyer get experience to qualify for a federal judgeship.

In written answers to supplement his congressional testimony, ex-U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden of Nevada said William Mercer, acting associate attorney general, gave him that rationale for his firing. Bodgen's firing angered Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada, who joined bipartisan criticism of the way Attorney General Alberto Gonzales handled the dismissals.

Mercer explained that ``the administration had a two-year window of opportunity'' to give someone ``the experience of serving as United States attorney'' so ``the Republican Party would have more future candidates to the federal bench'' and political positions, Bogden wrote.

The disclosure came as the Justice Department said its inspector general is investigating an allegation that former Gonzales aide Monica Goodling used political affiliation as criteria for screening applicants for career-level prosecutor positions. The agency said in a statement that federal law prohibits such considerations in hiring career prosecutors.

``Whether or not the allegation is true is currently the subject'' of the investigation by the inspector general and the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said in a statement.

Jeffrey King, one of Goodling's lawyers, declined to comment.

Rove Documents

Also, the Senate Judiciary Committee today subpoenaed the Justice Department for e-mails that agency officials traded with Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser. In a statement, the panel cited testimony by fired U.S. attorneys that they believed ``political influence was a factor in their firings.''

The subpoena is the second issued by a congressional committee in the investigation of the firings. ``We have received the subpoena and are reviewing it,'' Boyd said.

The subpoena issued by Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the panel, ordered Gonzales to turn over the documents by May 15. The panel also sought e-mails Rove wrote that were turned over to Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor who investigated the leak by Bush administration officials of the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent whose husband questioned intelligence Bush cited to justify the Iraq war.

Bogden and other fired U.S. attorneys submitted written answers to supplement their testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last March.

`Higher Up'

Bogden said that neither Mercer nor Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty offered any other explanation for his dismissal. McNulty told Bogden that the order for his dismissal came from ``higher up'' and that his performance in office ``did not enter into the equation,'' the fired U.S. attorney wrote.

Three other fired U.S. attorneys said they were threatened by a top Justice Department official with being publicly criticized by Gonzales if they publicly protested their dismissals, according to written answers released by the House Judiciary panel.

The dismissed U.S. attorneys provided more details regarding the claim that such a threat was made by Michael Elston, staff chief to McNulty. The allegation was first made in Senate testimony earlier this year by H.E. ``Bud'' Cummins III.

Cummins was fired as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas, to make room for an ex-aide to Rove.

`Not Demean Me'

John McKay, fired as U.S. attorney in Seattle, wrote that during a telephone call, he understood that Elston sought his silence in return for a promise that ``the attorney general would not demean me in his Senate testimony.''

Paul K. Charlton, fired as U.S. attorney in Arizona, wrote that before Gonzales testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee in January, Elston offered him a ``quid-pro-quo agreement: my silence in exchange for the attorney general's.''

Gonzales declined during his Jan. 18 testimony to explain the reasons for the firings, except to say, ``I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons.'' A month later, McNulty cited ``performance'' reasons for some of the dismissals, touching off the political furor over the firings.

During Senate testimony on March 6, Cummins said Elston threatened him with retaliation if he or the other fired U.S. attorneys tried to bring congressional pressure or orchestrated public criticism of their dismissals.

In his written answer, Cummins said that during one telephone call, Elston ``essentially said that if the controversy continued'' over the firings, some prosecutors would have to be ``thrown under the bus.''

No Replacement

Almost six months after Bogden was fired, Bush still has not nominated someone to take his place, said Tory Mazzola, Ensign's spokesman. The senator is ``putting together a list of potential replacements'' for the president's staff to review, he said. Presidents typically consult with home-state senators on appointments of U.S. attorneys and federal trial judges.

The investigation of Goodling, who resigned last month from Gonzales's staff after invoking her Fifth Amendment refusal to testify before Congress, is part of a broader inquiry into the firings the attorney general ordered.

The two internal affairs units of the Justice Department are investigating whether Goodling ``may have taken prohibited considerations into account'' when reviewing applicants for career prosecutor jobs in offices headed by interim or acting U.S. attorneys, Boyd said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 2, 2007 17:52 EDT