Leahy: Leaked Justice Department memo 'disturbing'

From Raw Story, by Michael Roston:

The chair of the Senate committee that is investigating the firing of 8 U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department called news of a classified internal memo on hiring and firing authorities granted by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to his staff "disturbing." He also chided the Justice Department for failing to turn the memo over as it produced documents upon Congressional request.

"It is disturbing to learn that the Attorney General was granting extraordinary and sweeping authority to the same political operatives who were plotting with the White House to dilute our system of checks and balances in the confirmation of U.S. Attorneys," Sen. Patrick Leahy said in a statement.

Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, added, "This memorandum should have been turned over to Senate and House committees as part of requests made in ongoing investigations. I expect the Department of Justice to immediately provide Congress with full information about this troubling decision as well as any other related documents they have failed to turn over to date."

The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman was referring to the revelation of the memo published in the National Journal late on Monday.