Conyers Rejects “Incomplete and Entirely Unsatisfactory” DOJ Letter on Oil Lease Scandal

(Washington, D.C.) – In late September, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. D-MI) wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey regarding the department’s response to the oil and gas leasing scandal that has engulfed the Interior Department.  Today, Chairman Conyers rejected the department’s return letter as incomplete and inadequate. Conyers observed that the controversy involved troubling allegations that political officials had overruled the judgment of a local US Attorney for political reasons and warned that "In light of the Department’s recent history and the ongoing criminal investigation into matters related to the politicization of the United States attorney corps, a case such as this one where local prosecutors have acknowledged being overruled and suggested that politics were at play demands our utmost attention.  Such concerns are heightened, he noted, because the Interior Department’s former number two official – who previously served as a top energy industry lobbyist -- has already been convicted of crimes related to his involvement in the Abramoff corruption scandal.

"I can accept that not every request for information from Congress will be met with open arms at the Department of Justice," Conyers said.  "But our system of checks and balances cannot function if congressional requests are simply ignored or met with empty boilerplate that does not even explain why they are being denied. Some may hope to run out the clock on the many controversies surrounding this administration, but the Judiciary Committee will continue its work until the last day of this Congress."

Letter from Keith Nelson
Letter from Chairman Conyers.