Conyers Demands Answers on DOJ’s Failure to Act on Corruption in Federal Oil, Gas and Mining Contracts

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to explain the Department’s apparently weak response to allegations of fraud and misconduct at the Interior Department’s troubled Minerals Management Service. The Interior Department’s Inspector General has recently documented a wide range of abuses in the program that administers oil, gas and mining contracts, yet only one retired official has pled to any criminal charges and the two most senior officials named in the reports have not been prosecuted. Chairman Conyers also demanded an explanation for the Department’s failure to intervene on behalf of the US taxpayer in a related whistleblower case, overruling the local US Attorney’s recommendation in a decision that a career DOJ attorney suggested "had political stuff written all over it."

"When a career employee of the Department indicates that Alberto Gonzales’ team overruled her for political reasons in favor of a major oil company, those charges must be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated." Conyers said. "Attorney General Mukasey says that politics has no place in the Department of Justice, but it is time for him to start backing up those words with action. That means giving our committee’s request his full cooperation and attention."

A copy of the correspondence is linked here.