A Department of Justice lawyer working in the Criminal Division broke numerous ethics rules, including lying to a DOJ Inspector General, an internal report concluded.
The then-Criminal Division lawyer resigned from the department after the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated an investigation following a tip about the lawyer’s misconduct, according to the report.
A DOJ criminal division attorney worked on a case involving a former client, an ethics violation, and then lied to the DOJ inspector general about it. https://t.co/QHTq7tV8wN pic.twitter.com/L12uk8sWWG</p,” >— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 31, 2023
The tip claimed the lawyer was working on a matter for a client he had previously represented in his private practice, a violation of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Executive Branch Employees, per the report.
The OIG also “found indications that the attorney may have made false statements under oath to the OIG,” the report said.
The former DOJ lawyer intentionally provided false information regarding his work for his former client and failed to follow guidelines from ethics officials, according to the report.
The attorney “lacked candor under oath” about whether or not his case involved a former client, per the internal document.
The Office of the Inspector General concluded their investigation and provided the report to the DOJ’s Criminal Division where it will handle it further. No new information is available at this time.
The episode is another in a series of DOJ controversies this year. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s department is accused of lying to Congress and slow-walking efforts to investigate Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. (House Oversight Releases Bank Records Showing Hunter Biden Took Millions From Russian And Ukrainian Oligarchs)
In April a low-level DOJ official reportedly approached IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, saying he wanted to “look into” Shapley’s claims that the DOJ slow-walked investigations into Hunter Biden. Shapley was taken off Hunter Biden’s tax-fraud case. The tax charges were later dismissed.