Conflict of Interest at the DOJ?

[133724]

Back in January, we noted federal prosecutors’ investigation of former deputy secretary of the interior Steven Griles in relation to the Abramoff lobbying scandal — and the simultaneous resignation of top DOJ lawyer Sue Ellen Wooldridge, who was then rumored to be dating Griles.

More details are now surfacing on their romance, which was kept secret from officials investigating Griles. At the time of her resignation, Wooldridge accounted for her departure by saying she wanted to return to the private sector, but Legal Times notes that “even those close to Wooldridge suggest that her relationship with Griles may have cost Wooldridge her government career.”

Both previously held high-ranking jobs at the Interior Department — Griles was deputy secretary there, while Wooldridge was deputy chief of staff to then-Secretary Gale Norton and later the agency’s top lawyer.

At Interior, according to Legal Times, they concealed their relationship from multiple department investigators looking into Griles’ contacts with former lobbying clients — even as Wooldridge responded to the investigators on Griles’ behalf and, later, as solicitor, oversaw Interior’s ethics office.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/02/05/conflict-of-interest-at-the-doj/

[tanyev]

1. Kick.

So many scandals, so little time to keep track of them all.