Topeka ? Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall said Tuesday that Phill Kline should release details of his FBI background report conducted while he was a nominee for U.S. attorney.

But Kline, campaigning to succeed Stovall, said he had no intention of asking the FBI for a copy of its report.

“The only people that have seen anything relating to my nomination are the White House,” Kline said earlier in the day.

“They said the were pleased with my nomination, and they respect my decision to withdraw. Everything else is rumor and speculation,” he said

It was the latest confrontation among statewide politicians taking sides in the Aug. 6 Republican primary for state attorney general. Kline faces state Sen. David Adkins and Topeka attorney Charles McAtee.

“My concerns over Kline and his lack of qualifications to be U.S. Attorney are identical to my concerns over his bid now to succeed me,” Stovall told reporters.

Stovall repeated claims made last week by Sen. Pat Roberts’ top aide that Kline’s qualifications did not meet White House standards. Stovall also said she had concerns about Kline’s debt from his 2000 congressional campaign and his role in the failed BioCore venture capital effort.

Kline announced he would withdraw from consideration for U.S. attorney in September, citing a desire to run for statewide office. Sen. Sam Brownback had recommended Kline to the White House in a letter also signed by Roberts.

Adkins allies question Kline’s qualifications for attorney general because Kline let his law license lapse three times, renewing it in January 2001.

Kline supporters have questioned Adkins’ fitness, citing a 1994 ethics sanction by the Kansas Supreme Court.

Roberts was in the news last week when his chief of staff, Leroy Towns, said the White House had raised concerns about Kline’s fitness to serve as top federal prosecutor in Kansas and asked for two more candidates for the job.

The White House responded Friday with a statement saying the administration was “pleased” to have Kline’s name submitted.

On Tuesday, Brownback, who has endorsed Kline, entered the fray.

Stovall claims threat

During her news conference, Stovall said Brownback’s office had “threatened” her against commenting on Kline’s nomination.

“This morning I became even more firmly resolved to speak out when a member of my staff received a threat from a chief aide to U.S. Sen. Brownback,” she said. “My staff member was told to deliver a message to me warning me that I would be sorry if I spoke out about Phill Kline’s failed nomination.”

The aide in question, Brownback chief of staff David Kensinger, dismissed the allegations as “unspecified and unsupported.”

He said he had called Mark Ohlemeier, a childhood friend, to chat and, after talking about the weather, asked if Ohlemeier’s boss was having a news conference later in the day.

“I said, ‘Is she going to do something foolish like call on Phill Kline to release his background check?”‘ Kensinger said. “He said, ‘Yeah, probably.’ I said, ‘Well, I think that’d be foolish. It’s going to look like the attorney general of the state of Kansas doesn’t know the law.”‘

Kensinger added: “I think that’s a foolish thing to do, and your boss is going to look foolish if she does it. And I was right.”

Kline: report unavailable

Kline said he would not be able to obtain the report before the primary. Stovall disputed this claim, saying it could be gotten sooner.

Federal law gives agencies 20 working days to decide whether to comply with such a request made under the Freedom of Information Act. Beyond that, there is no specific timeline but the request could take months, said Linda Colton, spokeswoman for the agency’s Freedom of Information Act office.

Colton said files under 500 pages probably could be delivered “within a couple of months.”

“Somebody still has to review the file and go through it line by line,” she said.