| For Immediate Release Jun 4, 2003 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5188 |
Judiciary Committee Dodges Responsibility Concerning Former Senate Colleague, Fearing Political Consequences of Honest Investigation (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, expressed outrage that the Senate Judiciary Committee and its investigative staff of the Majority and Minority, for being derelict in its duty to conduct a full and complete investigation of Mr. Michael Chertoff, a nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and a previous Senate Whitewater Majority Counsel, who is close to senators on the Judiciary Committee. Judicial Watch provided Committee investigators with a detailed chronology of alleged Justice Department misuse of organized crime operatives by the FBI and other U.S. government agencies in the District of New Jersey (among other northeastern U.S. jurisdictions), while Mr. Chertoff served as the U.S. Attorney. The investigators were also provided with a tape of recorded telephone conversations, transcripts, video and public documents as evidence. During a two hour meeting with Committee investigators on Thursday, May 29, 2003, Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman, and President Tom Fitton, made a detailed presentation, including audio and video exhibits, with direct evidentiary admissions by an FBI crime operative. Messrs. Klayman and Fitton also presented the staff with a recommended witness list of persons with first-hand knowledge of the alleged crimes. Today’s joint press statement from Senators Hatch and Leahy confirms that the Senate Judiciary Committee investigators failed to pursue any of the investigative leads or conduct any meaningful interviews in an effort to unravel the controversy surrounding Mr. Chertoff’s actions. Indeed, they merely asked Mr. Chertoff if he is “implicated or not.” The investigative staff could not possibly have scratched the surface of the evidence presented to it in merely three working days. “The Committee did a fraudulent investigation of serious allegations concerning Mr. Chertoff. The Senators are going to ram his nomination through the process without doing their duty, because to open up this ‘can of worms’ would only expose a whole new level of deceit and corruption, that directly touches Hillary Clinton and Justice Department corruption. The Judiciary Committee betrayed its constitutional duty,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman. | |