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WASHINGTON — Supporters of former U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton say he clashed with the Bush administration over the death penalty before he resigned in December.

Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said Friday that the Justice Department pressed Charlton to apply the death penalty in certain cases, but Charlton resisted because he didn't believe it was the right thing to do.

Charlton resigned in December and left office at the end of last month.

"It's obvious that they may have felt there were more circumstances where (the death penalty) was warranted than he did," said Woods, who has spoken with Charlton recently. "I think he should get credit for standing on principle rather than just doing what he was told so he didn't make waves. A lot of people don't have the guts to stand up and say 'no.' "

Woods did not know whether the conflicts led directly to Charlton's departure after serving as U.S. attorney for Arizona since 2001. Charlton took a job with a Phoenix law firm.

Charlton did not respond to repeated requests for comment throughout last week. The career prosecutor, 46, told The Associated Press in December that he had decided it was time to leave.

Charlton's resignation came as accusations swirled on Capitol Hill that the Bush administration had used a provision of the USA Patriot Act to oust federal prosecutors and replace them with White House allies without Senate confirmation.

Democrats have accused the administration of punishing prosecutors whose work targeted Republican allies. Charlton's office handled preliminary investigations into Republican Reps. Jim Kolbe and Rick Renzi before the November election.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has denied the charge and promised to submit every replacement for Senate confirmation.

Senators debated the subject last week.

Seven federal prosecutors have left office in the last year; most, like Charlton, stepped down in December.

The Justice Department has not supplied details about their departure, though a deputy to Gonzales, Paul McNulty, told senators at a hearing last week that some of the ousted prosecutors were fired for performance-related causes, while others were asked to leave without cause.