Public Integrity Section

Last updated

The Public Integrity Section (PIN) is a section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with combating political corruption at all levels of government through the prosecution of corrupt federal, state, and local elected and appointed public officials. [1]

Contents

Role

The Public Integrity Section holds exclusive jurisdiction over prosecution of alleged criminal misconduct by federal judges, monitors the investigation and prosecution of election and conflict of interest crimes. It consolidates into one unit the U.S. Department of Justice's oversight responsibilities for prosecuting criminal abuses of the public trust by elected and appointed government officials. In addition to prosecuting cases, PIN also advises and assists prosecutors and agents in the field in handling public corruption cases.

PIN has about 30 prosecutors who "travel the country to help local United States attorney’s offices develop complex and often politically contentious corruption cases". [2]

Administrative history

The Public Integrity Section was created in March 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Since 1978, it has supervised administration of the Independent Counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires the Attorney General to report to the United States Congress annually on the operations and activities of the Public Integrity Section. [1] Annual reports to Congress since 1978 are available on the PIN's website. [3] PIN's Election Crimes Branch was created in 1980 and supervises the U.S. Department of Justice's nationwide response to voter fraud, campaign financing offenses, and other election crimes. [4]

Criticism

PIN was originally known for its "elite reputation", but it has fallen under disrepute since its decision to prosecute Senator Ted Stevens (RAlaska) for failing to disclose gifts. Though he was convicted in 2008 and lost his bid for re-election, in 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder threw out the case after it emerged that PIN prosecutors "failed to turn over evidence that could have helped Mr. Stevens win acquittal". [5]

After this blow to its reputation, it was criticized for "being gun-shy" because it had closed out without pressing charges a "series of long-running investigations into current or former members of Congress," including Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Representatives Tom DeLay of Texas, Jerry Lewis of California, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Don Young of Alaska. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act</span> US federal law

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members of the Commonwealth of Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)</span> Department of Government of United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes complex fraud

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The SFO is accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales, and was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

In the United States, a special counsel is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. Other jurisdictions have similar systems. For example, the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or attorney general might be handled by a special prosecutor rather than by an ordinary prosecutor who would otherwise be in the position of investigating his or her own superior. Special prosecutors also have handled investigations into those connected to the government but not in a position of direct authority over the Justice Department's prosecutors, such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prosecutor</span> Legal profession

A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against the defendant, an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically, the prosecutor represents the state or the government in the case brought against the accused person.

The U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Department of Justice Criminal Division</span> The federal governments main anti-crime arm

The United States Department of Justice Criminal Division is a federal agency of the United States Department of Justice that develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States. Criminal Division attorneys prosecute many nationally significant cases and formulate and implement criminal enforcement policy. Division attorneys also provide advice and guidance to the Attorney General of the United States, the United States Congress, and the White House on matters of criminal law. The Division was founded in 1919.

The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen", the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Iglesias</span> Panamanian and American lawyer

David Claudio Iglesias is a Panamanian-American attorney from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul K. Charlton</span> Former United States Attorney for Arizona

Paul K. Charlton is a former United States Attorney and current partner at the law firm of Dentons US LLP in the firm's Phoenix, Arizona office. Charlton concentrates his practice on high-profile and complex litigation, internal investigations and white-collar criminal defense. Charlton also represents a number of Arizona Native American governments, including Ak-Chin, Salt River Pima-Maricopa, Haulapai, the Navajo Nation, and Tohono O'odham.

Steven M. Biskupic is a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin serving under Attorneys General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales and Michael Mukasey. He was appointed by George W. Bush in May 2002. Prior to his appointment, Biskupic served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 13 years, specializing in the prosecution of white-collar crime. Biskupic stepped down after the 2008 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradley Schlozman</span> American attorney

Bradley Joseph Schlozman is an American attorney who served as acting head of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. A member of the Republican Party, Schlozman was appointed by Gonzales as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, replacing Todd Graves, and he assumed that office on March 23, 2006. In April 2007, Schlozman left the U.S. Attorney position to work at the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. He was succeeded by John F. Wood as US attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dismissed U.S. attorneys summary</span>

This article about dismissed U.S. attorneys summarizes the circumstances surrounding a number of U.S. attorneys dismissed from office in the United States Department of Justice in 2006. Eight were dismissed In December 2006, and others may have been forced out of office under similar circumstances in 2005 and 2006. The manner of the firings, the congressional response to them, and the explanations offered by Bush administration officials are aspects of a political controversy starting in the first quarter of 2007. As of May 2007 a clear explanation of why the attorneys were dismissed had not been put forward by the Bush administration or the Department of Justice leadership. There are in total 93 U.S. attorneys that serve 94 Federal district courts.

Several statutes, mostly codified in Title 18 of the United States Code, provide for federal prosecution of public corruption in the United States. Federal prosecutions of public corruption under the Hobbs Act, the mail and wire fraud statutes, including the honest services fraud provision, the Travel Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) began in the 1970s. "Although none of these statutes was enacted in order to prosecute official corruption, each has been interpreted to provide a means to do so." The federal official bribery and gratuity statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 15 U.S.C. § 78dd, and the federal program bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 666 directly address public corruption.

Theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 666. The purpose of this statute is protect the integrity of the vast sums of money distributed through federal programs. The section is designed to facilitate the prosecution of persons who steal money or otherwise divert property or services from state and local governments or private organizations—for example, universities, foundations and business corporations—that receive large amounts of federal funds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Weissmann</span> American attorney (born 1958)

Andrew A. Weissmann is an American attorney and professor. He was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1991 to 2002, when he prosecuted high-profile organized crime cases. He served as a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller's Special Counsel's Office (2017–2019), as Chief of the Fraud Section in the Department of Justice (2015–2017) and is currently a professor at NYU Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Higdon Jr.</span> American attorney

Robert J. Higdon Jr. is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina from 2017 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deferred prosecution agreement (Canada)</span>

In Canada, a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) or remediation agreement refers to an agreement under Part XXII.1 of the Criminal Code. The agreement is made between the Crown prosecutor and an organization alleged to have committed certain types of criminal offences, usually in the context of fraud or corruption, with the consent of the relevant Attorney General and under the supervision of a judge. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the Crown prosecutor can agree to defer bringing a prosecution for the alleged offences if the organization takes steps to improve its conduct, makes restitution, and implements internal controls to avoid a repetition of the conduct.

Richard Pilger is an American attorney and retired government official who served as the Director of the Election Crimes Branch at the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice from March 2010 to November 2020, returning to the civil service position in February 2021 through his retirement in July 2022. He is currently an unaffiliated private attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Smith (lawyer)</span> American lawyer, United States Attorney, and Special Counsel

John Luman Smith is an American attorney who has served in the United States Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney, acting U.S. attorney, and head of the department's Public Integrity Section. He was also the chief prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an international tribunal at The Hague tasked with investigating and prosecuting war crimes in the Kosovo War.

References

  1. 1 2 Ekstrand, Laurie E. (January 2001). "DOJ's Public Integrity Section: Case Management Policies Followed, but Closing Some Matters Took Too Long" (PDF). U.S. General Accounting Office . Report to the Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives (GAO-01-122).
  2. 1 2 Savage, Charlie (June 1, 2012). "Another High-Profile Failure for a Justice Dept. Watchdog". New York Times.
  3. U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.) Public Integrity Section. U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Retrieved on May 10, 2007.
  4. Public Integrity Section. (2006) Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section for 2005. [ permanent dead link ] U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Retrieved on May 10, 2007.
  5. Johnson, Carrie (October 18, 2011). "Justice Dept. Lawyer Exonerated, Back With Public Integrity Section". NPR.