Top justice officials hint at quitting

Washington: As Congress and the Bush Administration argued publicly last week over the extraordinary raid of a congressman's office, a high-stakes dispute simmered behind the scenes top Justice Department officials indicated they would resign if ordered to turn over documents seized in the search, administration officials said.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, never directly threatened to quit over the files taken from Representative William Jefferson, Democrat-Louisiana. But they indicated they would be unwilling to hand over the documents if requested by President Bush.

Bush diffused the potential crisis on Thursday, ordering the seized material sealed for 45 days to give Congress and the Justice Department time to resolve the constitutional showdown.

The veiled resignation threats highlighted the tensions coursing through official Washington last week after more than a dozen FBI agents conducted an unprecedented raid on Jefferson's office the night of May 20.

Jefferson has been accused of accepting $100,000 in cash in return for helping a Virginia businesswoman obtain contacts to provide mobile phone and internet services in Ghana and Nigeria. The FBI said it had videotaped Jefferson receiving the money and a search of his Washington-area home turned up $90,000 wrapped in foil in his freezer.