The L.A. Times has this today in the continuing U.S. attorney saga:

WASHINGTON — In a strongly worded defense of her four-year tenure as U.S. attorney in San Diego, Carol C. Lam told congressional investigators that she was constantly given conflicting instructions from Washington and was expected to bring more prosecutions with fewer resources.

According to written statements released Wednesday — her first public comments since testifying two months ago about her firing — Lam also said she was given just weeks to clear out of her office and was informed by Justice Department officials that her ouster was “coming from the very highest levels of the government.”

And, she said, Washington wanted her to pretend as though it was her decision to leave office. When Michael A. Battle, then a Justice Department supervisor for U.S. attorneys, called her in December to tell her she was being terminated, she said, “He advised me to simply say publicly that I had decided to pursue other opportunities.”

Here’s the full transcript of Lam’s Q&A with U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-South Gate.

ANDREW DONOHUE

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