The New York Times yesterday printed an article that reviewed recently released e-mails from the Bush Administration concerning the firing of U.S. Attorneys.

The e-mails show that possible replacements for the fired attorneys were discussed as early as January, 2006, more than a year before the attorneys were fired.

The New York Times article brings the story home to us in Alabama as it shows a direct link to Sen. Jeff Sessions.

A further review of Sessions&8217; questioning of Griffin shows that he followed the &8220;talkers&8221; recommended by D. Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who resigned last month in the wake of the growing scandal.

According to The New York Times, &8220;It was not clear whether the &8216;talkers,&8217; shorthand for talking points, were sent to Mr. Sessions and other &8216;Rs,&8217; or Republicans. But Mr. Sessions, in a later hearing on the matter, ran through all of the highlights, praising Mr. Griffin&8217;s r/sum/, just as the White House and Justice had apparently requested.&8221;

If Republican operatives used their influence within the administration to fire U.S. Attorneys in order to give cushy jobs to GOP backers, then more heads need to roll, including that of Gonzales.

If Sessions did indeed go along with such a plan, then he has some real hard questions to answer. His integrity would be in serious question.

At best, Sessions needs to answer to the &8212; shall we say &8212; coincidences between his questioning of Griffin and the proposed talking points that were allegedly passed along to him.

Needless to say, this scandal is only growing, and unfortunately it just crossed into Alabama.