Abramoff/Wade Prosecutor Moves On; Second Scandal Prosecutor to be PromotedIf you’re a DOJ lawyer looking for a promotion these days, seems one of the best things to do is be in the midst of a major corruption investigation.
The prosecutor who has headed the office at the center of a number of high-profile GOP corruption investigations – Jack Abramoff, David Safavian, Michael Scanlon, and Mitchell Wade – is moving on. He’s been there since May of 2004.
Kenneth Wainstein, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has been tapped to be Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
You might remember that another key prosecutor in the Abramoff case, Noel Hillman of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Sector, was recently nominated to a federal judgeship in New Jersey, sparking calls for a special prosecutor. I wouldn’t be surprised if that effort was renewed.
Wainstein’s office is at the center of the Abramoff investigation, along with a number of other agencies, including the DoJ’s Public Integrity – Abramoff and Scanlon both pled guilty in the U.S. District Court in D.C. And it is his office that is prosecuting David Safavian. His office is also busy carrying on the investigation into crooked defense contractor Mitchell Wade’s full-fledged corruption; as the Post reported a couple of weeks ago, that investigation has spread into the Department of Defense.
(Ed. Note: Thanks to TPM Reader KM for the tip.)
