US Attorney Targeted After DoJ Brushoff

Lawyer put on pink-slip list after refusal to slow case vs. drugmaker
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 1, 2007 7:00 PM CDT
US Attorney Targeted After DoJ Brushoff
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales smiles as he attends the meeting of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the Asset Forfeiture Program, Tuesday, July 31, 2007, at a hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)   (Associated Press)

A US attorney testified yesterday that he found himself on a firings list after rebuffing DoJ pressure to slow a case—on the eve of a guilty plea. The Post reports a Justice higher-up urged John Brownlee to stall proceedings against the manufacturer of an addictive painkiller hours before it entered a $635 million plea agreement.

Brownlee kept his job, but the call on behalf of the makers of OxyContin was pressure that “could easily have a chilling effect” on prosecutors’ work, said a former Justice official. With AG Alberto Gonzalez under scrutiny over the dismissal of attorneys, Brownlee's testimony provided more evidence into attempts by Justice brass to influence individual lawyers. (More OxyContin stories.)

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