ome kind of a story, and I wouldn't be able to say, 'Well, I didn't read the e-mail.' 'But I sent it to your address -- how can you say you didn't?' So, in other words, I'm very cautious about e-mailing."

Bush's concerns may have been prescient. The trail of e-mails between Gonzales' top deputies has been damaging to the Justice Department, as they provide a time-stamped record of some of the rationales for the firings -- rationales that contradict what the deputies' superiors told Congress under oath.

But Bush and Gonzales aren't alone in shunning e-mail to communicate with their subordinates.

Former Attorney General Janet Reno also avoided computer communications, says former Reno spokesman Bert Brandenburg. "When you're an executive at the stratosphere level, everyone has to pick what system works for them," he says, pointing out that when Reno took office in 1993, e-mail was still relatively new. "If you don't have e-mail, you have to make sure your staff is keeping you in the loop and up to speed."

Appearing to be out of the loop may well be the best option for Gonzales. It's certainly a theme the Justice Department is pushing.

"I would point out that there are very few references to him in the 3,000 pages," writes Scolinos, in -- you guessed it -- an e-mail.

MULTITASKING

The next time Gonzales testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee (if there is a next time), he's sure to be asked about some statements he's already made under oath.

On Jan. 18, Gonzales sat before the committee, and in response to questioning from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., firmly stated:

"I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."

In the weeks afterward, as news emerged that political factors were considerations in the firing of at least some of the prosecutors, it looked like Gonzales may have just stumbled while speaking extemporaneously under the bright lights of the committee hearing.

But e-mails released by the Justice Department last week show Gonzales was apparently paraphrasing a talking point circulated by his top aides hours before he sat to testify. Just after 10 p.m., the night before Gonzales was due before the Judiciary Committee, staffer Elston sent a message labeled "Without Cause" to five other top Justice Department officials.

"While I will not comment on any particular United States Attorney's resignation, let me say this: I would never, never consent to the removal of a United States Attorney for political reasons," Elston suggested in the second paragraph of the message.

"Got it," Sampson responded just minutes later. Sampson may have gotten the e-mail, but Gonzales clearly didn't get the message, as his testimony was almost immediately contradicted by subsequent revelations. But he hasn't been alone.

In preparing to have William Moschella, the principal associate deputy attorney general, face down six of the fired U.S. Attorneys at a House subcommittee hearing on March 6, e-mails released last week show that top Justice aides compiled a list of criticisms for each of the fired prosecutors.

For David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, one of the criticisms spelled out in an internal Justice memo reads: "There was a perception that he traveled a lot, but that even when he was in the office he still delegated a vast majority of the management to his First Assistant. We expect our U.S. Attorneys, particularly those in critical districts, to be hands-on managers working hard to advance the work of the Department."

Moschella hit that point at the hearing. "Mr. Iglesias had delegated to his first assistant the overall running of the office," he said. "And quite frankly, U.S. Attorneys are hired to run the office."

Internal e-mails released last week show that as recently as 2004, Iglesias had been labeled a "diverse up and comer" and considered for bigger jobs, including U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. But if Iglesias was on the road, he had company.

Acting Associate Attorney General William Mercer, the Justice Department's No. 3 official, is also the U.S. Attorney for Montana. Mercer, who was heavily involved in the firing plan, has spent much of his time in Washington since taking over as a top aide to McNulty in June 2005.

Currently, Mercer is awaiting Senate confirmation to the associate's job on a permanent basis, at which time he's indicated he'd leave his U.S. Attorney post in Montana. But Mercer's nomination doesn't appear to be a priority of the Senate Judiciary Committee right now. "In order for the committee to conduct a full and fair consideration of Mr. Mercer's nomination, it needs all the facts, including those that may arise as part of its investigation into the firing of several United States attorneys," says Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Mercer isn't the only U.S. Attorney to have an office at Justice headquarters. From 2004 to 2005, Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, moonlighted as head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. And after Gonzales accepted the resignation of Sampson as his chief of staff earlier this month, he summoned Charles Rosenberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to take on a second job at Justice Department headquarters as Sampson's interim replacement. Rosenberg also did a fly-by in Texas, serving as U.S attorney in Houston for nine months in 2005 and 2006.