WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Although U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin voted to authorize subpoenas for White House and Department of Justice officials involved in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, he hopes the Senate doesn’t have to issue them.

“I hope that the White House will recognize the importance of this matter and cooperate,” the Maryland Democrat said Thursday after casting his vote as a member of the committee.

The White House has agreed to provide only limited access to the officials.

“I don’t think any investigator would want to have a meeting in which you can’t even have a transcript of the meeting and it’s not open to the public,” Cardin said.

Cardin said the firings are “affecting the morale” of the U.S. attorneys’ offices and “the confidence of the American people that we have an independent U.S. attorney in their state.”

According to Cardin, six of the eight U.S. attorneys “were involved in sensitive political investigations.”

“It was clear the White House was not happy by the manner in which these political investigations were being handled,” he said.

dfowler@dcexaminer.com