Tag Archives: Los Angeles US Attorney

CA-41: Public Integrity Unit Investigating Jerry Lewis Disbanded

Congressman Jerry Lewis sleeps well at night knowing there is a Bush Justice Department, from The Recorder (reg. required) (h/t TPM):

Federal prosecutors who work public corruption cases in Los Angeles had a vastly different week than their counterparts in Manhattan.

While the East Coast AUSAs enjoyed national celebrity for bringing down Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien disbanded his public integrity unit last Monday. Those 17 attorneys will be redistributed among the major fraud and organized crime sections, which now will have a mandate to battle corruption, spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

Yes, it is that LA USA office:

Wong Yang was heading up the investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis’s (R-Calif.) ties to a lobbying firm and the millions of dollars in contracts the firm’s clients received from Congress. Wong Yang, the first Asian-American woman to serve as a U.S. attorney, left her post with Justice to become a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the law firm representing Lewis. She will co-chair the firm’s crisis-management practice group, along with Washington, D.C., partner Theodore B. Olson, a former Bush administration solicitor general.

Looks like the ultimate in crisis-management. Wow.