Justice Department

Head Of DOJ Unit That Botched Stevens Case Steps Down

Zachary Roth | October 22, 2009, 4:39PM

The head of the Justice Department's beleaguered Public Integrity unit is stepping down.

William Welch, who supervised the department's botched prosecution of former Alaska senator Ted Stevens, will remain with DOJ but return to Massachusetts, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

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Topics: Eric Holder, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Kevin Ring, Ted Stevens, William Welch

John Sweeney

Sweeney's License Suspended For Refusal To Take Sobriety Test

Zachary Roth | October 16, 2009, 4:17PM

John Sweeney may have to take the bus for the next year and a half.

The former New York GOP congressman has had his driver's license suspended for refusing to take a sobriety test when police pulled him over for speeding in April and smelled alcohol on his breath.

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Topics: DUI, Jack Abramoff, John Sweeney

David Safavian

Former DOJ Prosecutor: Ring Case Was "Extremely Problematic" From The Start

Zachary Roth | October 16, 2009, 3:17PM

A former prosecutor with the Justice Department's Public Integrity unit has called the case against Kevin Ring "an extremely problematic prosecution," since the favors that Ring was accused of doing for public officials weren't in themselves illegal.

A mistrial was declared in the case yesterday, after jurors deadlocked on the charges against the former Team Abramoff lobbyist.

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Topics: David Safavian, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Kevin Ring, Lobbyists, Ted Stevens

David Safavian

Safavian Gets A Year In Prison For Role In Abramoff Scandal

Justin Elliott | October 16, 2009, 1:52PM

David Safavian, the former Bush Administration official who was convicted for the second time in December for lying and obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff probe, was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison, the Washington Post reports.

Safavian, who was chief of staff at the General Services Administration, was also convicted of lying on a financial disclosure form about the costs of Abramoff's famous 2002 golf junket to Scotland, which Safavian attended.

The Post reports that Safavian, whose wife is pregnant, made a plea for leniency to the judge today:

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Topics: Bush Administration, David Safavian, General Services Administration, Jack Abramoff, Kevin Ring, Lobbyists

Kevin Ring

Judge Will Declare Mistrial In Kevin Ring Case

Justin Elliott | October 15, 2009, 2:08PM

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. plans to declare a mistrial on seven of eight counts in the case of top Jack Abramoff operative Kevin Ring, the Legal Times reports.

Ring was indicted last year on charges of bribing government officials and members of Congress with meals and event tickets in return for help for clients of Abramoff's lobbying firm.

The Legal Times reports:

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Topics: Bribery, Jack Abramoff, John Doolittle, Justice Department, Kevin Ring, Lobbyists

Gale Norton

Gale Norton Subpoenaed By Grand Jury: Report

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 5:32PM

Gale Norton is being investigated by a federal grand jury for allegedly talking to Shell about a job, while she was Interior Secretary in 2006, reports National Journal. Both Norton and Shell are said to have received subpoenas.

The existence of the federal investigation was first reported last month by the Los Angeles Times. In a nutshell, the Feds have been looking at an episode in which Norton's Interior Department awarded three oil shale leases on federal land in Colorado -- potentially worth hundreds of billions -- to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Two months later, Norton resigned, saying she had no job lined up. But later that year, she was hired by Shell as in-house counsel.

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Topics: Gale Norton, Interior Department, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Lobbyists, Oil, Steven Griles