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Feinstein grills Mukasey about closed corruption unit |
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By Susan Crabtree
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Posted: 03/27/08 05:58 AM [ET] |
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to explain the decision to eliminate the public corruption unit in Los Angeles that has been investigating Rep. Jerry Lewis's (R-Calif.) ties to a lobbying firm. The U.S. Attorney for the central district of California in Los Angeles reassigned the 17 lawyers in the public corruption unit and disbanded it earlier this month. The decision has stirred ill will and low morale within the office and raised questions about whether pending and future public corruption cases will be rigorously pursued, according to press accounts. Attorneys in the Los Angeles office have spent years reviewing an FBI investigation into Lewis's connection to a lobbying firm and the earmarks its clients received. Lewis has doled out more than a million dollars in attorney fees related to the probe. Attorneys in the special corruption unit were assigned to other sections of the office and were told that their cases against public officials would be mixed in with other cases. Because cases against public officials require extensive work and result in fewer prosecutions, Feinstein is concerned they would be shunted aside for those that result in more convictions. In a letter sent to Mukasey Wednesday Feinstein demanded a detailed explanation of why the decision was made, saying it “raises serious questions about the future of public corruption cases and whether they will be vigorously pursued in the central district of California especially given all of the turnover and disruption that has occurred.” |
