Legal Ethics
Head of DOJ Public Integrity Unit to Relinquish Role, Return to Mass.
Posted Oct 21, 2009, 04:02 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Citing two unidentified sources, the Washington Post reports that the head of the public integrity unit of the U.S. Department of Justice plans to relinquish his role and return to Massachusetts.
Although William Welch II will continue as an employee of the DOJ's criminal division, he will step down on Oct. 30 from a job that involves overseeing some of the nation's highest-profile political prosecutions, the newspaper says. It isn't clear from the article exactly what he plans to do next.
He and five other department lawyers are the subject of a criminal probe and an internal ethics investigation concerning their work on the DOJ's unsuccessful corruption prosecution of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). However, Welch's planned move does not follow any adverse findings in either of these two cases involving the DOJ attorneys, according to the Post.
"While the ultimate result in the Stevens case has been highly disappointing professionally and personally, Bill knows that his management decisions, where permitted, comported with his own and the department's highest ethical standards," attorney William Taylor of Zuckerman Spaeder, who represents Welch, tells the newspaper.
Raymond Hulser is expected to serve as acting chief of the public integrity unit while the DOJ searches nationally for a candidate for a permanent appointment.
Earlier related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "New DOJ Evidence Debacle: AG Says Gov’t Disclosure Dubious in 2 More Alaska Cases"
ABAJournal.com: "DOJ Revs Up Prosecutor Training, Ponders Discovery Policy"
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