Lawyers for indicted former Republican congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona are trying to have the federal government held in contempt on the grounds that the Justice Department leaked to the media about his public corruption case for political reasons.
It’s an interesting twist because we now know that Harriet Miers, as White House counsel, asked DOJ to leak in Renzi’s favor right before the 2006 midterm elections. And while DOJ apparently resisted her request, a later leak — of still unknown origin — favorable to Renzi made it into press in time for the election and Renzi was re-elected.
