Leahy Seeks Details Of
No-Bid Contracts
Directed To Be Awarded By Justice Department Official
WASHINGTON
(Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday sent a letter to Attorney General
Michael Mukasey asking the Department of Justice to provide the
Committee with information regarding no-bid contracts directed
to be awarded to firms affiliated with former Justice Department
officials. According to an article in
The New York Times,
U. S. Attorney Christopher Christie directed the awarding of
no-bid contracts to former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s
consulting firm, two former U.S. Attorneys and to a former
Republican attorney general of New Jersey.
The Judiciary Committee is
expected to conduct a Department of Justice Oversight hearing
after the Senate reconvenes later this month.
The text of Leahy’s letter to
Attorney General Mukasey follows.
Click
here to view a PDF of the letter.
January 10, 2008
The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey
Attorney General
United States Department of
Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20530
Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
According to a story today in
The New York Times,
New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie directed companies
involved in out-of-court settlements of criminal cases with the
Department to award no-bid contracts for monitoring compliance
with those settlements to former Attorney General John
Ashcroft’s consulting firm, to two former U.S. Attorneys, and to
a former Republican attorney general of New Jersey. The
18-month contract awarded without public notice or bidding to
the Ashcroft Group is reported to be worth between $28 million
and $52 million.
Please provide the Judiciary
Committee with a list of all contracts, including dollar
amounts, awarded since 2001 to outside lawyers retained by
companies for monitoring compliance with out-of-court
settlements reached in criminal investigations between companies
and the Department. Please also explain the procedure followed
to select the person or firm monitoring compliance. Because it
is important that the Committee have this information to prepare
for our upcoming oversight hearing with you, please provide it
to the Committee by January 23.
I appreciate your prompt attention
to this matter so that we can work together to ensure that
political considerations do not play a role in the Department’s
responsibility to enforce the law.
Sincerely,
PATRICK
LEAHY
Chairman
Cc: The Honorable Arlen Specter