DENVER -- The ranking Republican on a committee deciding the fate of the White House nominee to be U.S. attorney in Colorado is following the case of former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about Voorhis during a committee hearing on Wednesday.

Napolitano told Sessions, "I am not personally familiar with that matter, but I will become personally familiar with it."

Sessions said, "I don't believe there's anything wrong with a federal agent criticizing a prosecutor."

Voorhis lost his job after accessing a restricted law-enforcement database for information on an illegal immigrant. The information was used in a campaign ad against Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, then a Denver prosecutor.

Voorhis was acquitted of the federal charges against him, but still lost his job. He has appealed for a return to work.

In an interview with KMGH following the verdict, Voorhis said, "They start reading that verdict and the words cannot come out fast enough as far as I'm concerned, but it was justice, pure elation to hear 'not guilty.' [It was] nothing short of vindication."

The Denver district attorney's office also accessed the database to check on the immigrant.

Stephanie Villafuerte, Ritter's deputy chief of staff and a nominee for U.S. attorney, has denied asking the DA's office to access it.