Michael Mukasey

At a news conference on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that the Justice Department continues to review the process prosecutors use to pick federal monitors in deferred prosecution agreements, and kept the door open to new guidelines that might make the selection process less political in the future.  Mukasey refused to criticize the $28 million to $52 million contract awarded to one of his predecessors, John Ashcroft. 

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie
CONGRESS COULD ISSUE SUBPOENAS, HOLD HEARINGS

In a direct communication with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee requested details of federal monitor contracts negotiated by New Jersey's United States Attorney, Christopher J. Christie, and said that if documents are not turned over to them quickly, they could issue subpoenas to obtain them, according to a source with knowledge of the Judiciary panels actions.

And House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says he is likely to hold hearings on the need for federal oversight of deferred prosecution agreements.

Christie, a leading candidate for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, awarded former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft a federal monitor contract worth up to $52 million over the next eighteen months, and has given out lucrative contracts to several other politically connected lawyers, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported today that the Justice Department is conducting an internal review of deferred prosecution agreements, though a spokesman for the department said the Justice Department has been having ongoing discussions about the selection of federal monitors for several months and was not prompted by reports of Christie's deal with Ashcroft, according to Peter A. Carr, a spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington. "There is no inquiry into that selection. Likewise, the consideration of guidance was not prompted by the actions of any U.S. Attorney," Carr said in a statement released today.

In a letter to Mukasey, Conyers chastised the Justice Department for failing to respond to letters from at least two Congressmen,and said that a report in today's New York Times "reinforces a concern over the lack of real oversight and transparency of deferred prosecution agreements."

"These agreements, which directly affect billions of dollars in corporate business as well as the livelihoods of millions of Americans employed by these corporations, have been completely shielded from review by either the Legislative or Judicial branches of the government," Conyers wrote in a letter also signed by Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey.

Rep. Frank Pallone continued his push for more safeguards against the abuse of deferred prosecution agreements and oversight over the selection of federal monitors following reports that U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie gave a contract worth up to $52 million to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.  The New York Times reported today that the Justice Department is conducting an internal inquiry of the Ashcroft deal, and others.

Today, Pallone asked U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey for full disclosure of all information regarding deferred prosecution agreements, and said he is drafting legislation to provide accountability and oversight in the selection of federal monitors. 

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at a Justice Department news conference in 2003
The Justice Department is conducting an internal inquiry into the process used to award lucrative no-bid federal monitor contracts after U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie gave a deal worth as much as $52 million to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, according to a New York Times report.

Rep. Frank Pallone wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey last November, following published reports that Christie had given contracts to Ashcroft, two other former Bush administration officials, and to former state Attorney General Davis Samson. Rep. Bill Pascrell is pushing for a congressional hearing on the federal monitor issue.