D. Kyle Sampson (born in Cedar City, Utah) was the chief of staff and counselor of United States attorney general Alberto Gonzales.
[3][4] As a young man, Sampson served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among Hmong refugees who had emigrated from Laos to Minnesota.
[6] He clerked for Judge Karen J. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then joined the Salt Lake City law firm of Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless.
After the 2000 election, Sampson "drew on a friendship he had built in law school with Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of the vice president, to land a job making personnel decisions in the early days of the Bush administration.
White House and Justice officials backed Mr. Sampson in his bid to replace [Paul] Warner, making that clear to the staff of Senator Hatch.
But the senator wanted Mr. Bush to nominate Brett Tolman, a one-time Utah federal prosecutor who had spent the previous three years working on antiterrorism issues for the Judiciary Committee staff.
"[17] After all, "United States attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, and during changeovers in administration, they are replaced as a matter of standard practice.
[19] The New York Times reported that "Mr. Gonzales, who approved the idea of the group firing, has been under fierce criticism from lawmakers of both parties over the dismissals, which have provoked charges that they were politically motivated.
On July 21, 2010, Nora Dannehy, the special prosecutor tasked with investigating the attorney dismissals, concluded that "there was insufficient evidence to establish that persons knowingly made material false statements to [the Office of Inspector General] or Congress or corruptly endeavored to obstruct justice"[21] and that no criminal charges would be filed against Sampson or Gonzales.