Justice Department declines to make public its investigation of U.S. attorney's office, for now
By Gordon Russell, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on April 11, 2013 at 10:11 AM
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The OPR inquiry was ordered in March 2012 by then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten in the wake of the revelation that Perricone, one of his top lieutenants, had been posting vitriolic comments under stories at NOLA.com under a collection of pseudonyms.
Eight months later, Letten confirmed allegations that Jan Mann, his longtime No. 2, had also been posting negative comments about people under the federal microscope.
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Any criminal investigation about the Perricone posts, experts said, would probably focus on whether the prosecutor revealed information known only to a federal grand jury in his online rants. Doing so could violate federal law, experts have said.
The inquiry also likely has sought to determine whether Perricone violated a Justice Department prohibition against lawyers publicly commenting on pending matters. The U.S. Attorneys' Manual notes that lawyers should try not to prejudice court proceedings by offering opinions about a defendant's guilt or making comments about his character.
The manual also warns Justice employees about creating "an appearance that the employee's official duties were performed in a biased or less than impartial manner."
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http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/04/justice_department_declines_to.html
This ought to get interesting.