Dismissed U.S. Attorneys Summary - John McKay

John McKay

Until his dismissal, John McKay received very positive evaluations for his work, including the successful prosecution of terrorist Ahmed Ressam, and the Navy's highest civilian honor for promoting a computer network co-ordinating law enforcement agencies.

In February, the Seattle Times noted that "One of the most persistent rumors in Seattle legal circles is that the Justice Department forced McKay, a Republican, to resign to appease Washington state Republicans angry over the 2004 governor's race. Some believe McKay's dismissal was retribution for his failure to convene a federal grand jury to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the race." On March 17, 2007, the Seattle Times reported, "Former Republican congressman Rick White, one of three candidates the Republicans have submitted to replace John McKay as U.S. attorney for Western Washington, cannot practice law in the state."

In a March 20, 2007 interview, McKay said that “Gonzales the attorney general...He’s accountable. The fact that he’s presiding over a department that did not defend the independence of its prosecutors is a grievous error.” McKay also recalled a call from the chief of staff of Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA) inquiring into the investigation.

McKay disputed that his firing was based on his support of a proposed information sharing system for federal and state law enforcement, which some DOJ e-mails have suggested. “When they go back and keep shifting stories it tends to indicate there’s a more nefarious reason that they’re not willing to admit to...That’s the real problem, and in my case it may be true because if they put me on that list because I wasn’t aggressive enough in ensuring that the Republican candidate for governor was elected, then that’s a terrible thing. I still haven’t seen clear evidence of that, but the timing is very suspicious.” McKay stated.

Prior to his firing McKay had been up for a federal judge position, but had been opposed by all three Republicans on the committee. McKay said that he was told by a source that “the explanation for why I was not one of the three finalists was that I had mishandled the 2004 governor’s election.” McKay also stated that in his judgeship interview the first question he was asked was about the 2004 race. “I’m in the White House on Aug. 22, I’m on the list on Sept. 13...I might still be United States attorney if I hadn’t applied to be a judge.”

McKay reported a similar call from Mike Elston, the deputy attorney general's top aide, as Cummings did. McKay stated that after he was fired in December he received a call from a "clearly nervous" Elston. McKay charged that "(Elston) was offering me a deal: you stay silent and the attorney general won't say anything bad about you." Elston responded to this accusation by stating that he "can't imagine" how McKay got that impression and that the call was meant to reassure McKay that the details of his termination would not be discussed.

In a May 5, 2007 article, the Washington Post reported that McKay may have in part been dismissed due to conflicts with his superiors in Washington concerning the investigation of the murder of Assistant United States Attorney Thomas C. Wales.

McKay had felt that Washington was neglecting the case. The Post reported McKay's reaction to the news:

"The idea that I was pushing too hard to investigate the assassination of a federal prosecutor -- it's mind-numbing" that they would suggest that, McKay said. " . . . If it's true, it's just immoral, and if it's false, then the idea that they would use the death of Tom Wales to cover up what they did is just unconscionable."