The New York Times details the way in which Whitehouse’s background as a former US Attorney is playing a role in pursuing the recent firings of US Attorneys by the Bush administration. From the article:

WASHINGTON, March 22 — When Senate Judiciary Committee aides huddled in a conference room on Monday night to work their way through Chinese takeout and thousands of newly disclosed administration e-mail messages about fired federal prosecutors, they got help from a surprising source: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

“I just wanted to try to flip through and get a sense of what I was seeing and what it might trigger,� said Mr. Whitehouse, a freshman Democrat from Rhode Island who is a former United States attorney. “There may well have been stuff that would send a different kind of signal to me than anyone else.�

As he and fellow committee members voted Thursday to approve subpoenas for Karl Rove and other administration officials they want to question in the firings, the role of federal prosecutors was no abstract notion to Mr. Whitehouse or to Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, who also is a former United States attorney.

The two leaders of the panel — Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, the chairman, and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican — are former state prosecutors.

These lawmakers say their backgrounds and experience naturally influence their thinking on the clash between the White House and Congress over the dismissal of eight United States attorneys and over suggestions of political meddling. They are keenly aware of the power that prosecutors wield and the potential for abuse.

“It weighs very heavily on my thinking,� said Mr. Specter, the one-time district attorney for Philadelphia. “I think the prosecutorial expertise that is plentiful on the committee puts us in a good position once we have the facts.�

Mr. Specter unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to seek compromise with the White House before threatening to force the testimony. After the committee approved the subpoenas, he spoke by telephone with Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, proposing that administration officials be questioned for the record by a limited number of lawmakers but without having to take an oath. Mr. Specter said Mr. Fielding had said he was not authorized to negotiate but would take the proposal to the president. [full text]