[JURIST] Judge John Bates [official profile] of the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Tuesday ordered [court order, PDF] that copies of the documents related to the investigation into the late 2006 firings of nine US attorneys [JURIST report] be provided by the Bush administration to the incoming Obama administration. The court order indicated that the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee [official website] and the Obama administration may need to have the documents readily available to comply with "established litigation deadlines." The Bush Administration intended to transfer the documents to the National Archives [official website]. The court order stipulates that the originals should still be transferred to the National Archives, but the Archivist is now required to maintain the documents readily accessible and "intact at a facility in Washington D.C. until the litigation is resolved."

In 2007, the investigation into the firings led to the resignation [JURIST report] of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. The Bush Administration has denied [JURIST report] that the firings were politically motivated.