Justice Department
Now on the Defense Side, McNulty Still Likes His Memo
Posted Oct 26, 2007, 10:07 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Former deputy attorney general Paul McNulty may have switched sides when he jumped from the Justice Department to Baker & McKenzie’s business crimes practice, but he still sounded like a prosecutor at an ABA meeting yesterday.
McNulty wrote a Justice Department memo that allowed prosecutors to continue prodding companies to waive attorney-client privilege in corporate investigations, but said the attorney general must first give his approval. Critics said the additional oversight was not enough to protect the privilege.
McNulty defended the memo during a luncheon speech at the ABA’s National Institute on Securities Fraud, according to the Corporate Crime Reporter.
“Since I know everyone in this room is well-versed on the McNulty memo, I can only assume that you are here today out of morbid curiosity to see how I will tap dance my way around this issue now that I’m a white collar-defense lawyer and not a prosecutor,” he said. “Well, the simple answer is that I will not be signing on to the next letter by former Department of Justice officials denouncing the McNulty memo.”
McNulty said Congress should defeat legislation that would bar prosecutors from seeking waiver of the privilege. His position is at odds with that of the ABA, which supports the bill.
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