USA Alice Martin Perjury Update.

BY Scott Horton

Readers of No Comment are no doubt familiar with the name Alice Martin. As the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, she has figured prominently in a number of posts over the last year, in particular “The Alice Martin Perjury Investigation.” On April 15, 2008, Martin contacted Harper’s Magazine with the information that the Justice Department’s Office of Personal Responsibility had cleared her of charges that she committed perjury in a deposition stemming from a wrongful dismissal case brought by a former employee, Deirdre Brown (now Deirdre Fleming).

Martin explained that she had the previous day signed a privacy waiver permitting the OPR to provide information about her case to the press.

Harper’s contacted the OPR, which refused to discuss the case over the telephone. In response to a written inquiry, Associate Counsel James G. Duncan confirmed in writing [Download PDF] that the perjury investigation against Martin had been concluded on November 28, 2007, though he declined to provide details about the scope of the investigation, its findings, or the legal reasoning that led to the decision.

Other questions for the OPR remain unanswered:

· Why wasn’t Brown interviewed by OPR as part of the investigation? (While Ms. Brown’s name was redacted by the Justice Department, she has not sought confidentiality; she has spoken with me and others in the media about the matter.)

· Why did the OPR reject the conclusion of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proceedings on Brown’s claim, which found that Martin’s testimony was “not worthy of credence”?

· Why, given that an email [Download PDF] was sent to Martin on March 18, 2002, to inform her on matters involving Brown, did the OPR not accept this email as documentary evidence to support the concerns about Martin’s testimony?

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/04/hbc-90002866

So, Martin's perjury probe concluded on November 2007? I found this piece that I posted back in February from Scott Horton about Martin's perjury probe. OPR leaves holes like swiss cheese in the Martin investigation:

Internal DOJ Investigation

How does the Bush Administration’s Justice Department deal with facts like these? In August 2004, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) received copies of the deposition transcript, the Chambers email and related documents with a request to fully consider a claim of perjury against Martin. OPR declined action. The letter from OPR brushing off the claim was ludicrous. It suggested that the perjury matter should have been addressed in the EEOC proceedings. EEOC, of course, had no jurisdiction to entertain such a matter.

First, OPR declined action and tried to pass this to the EEOC which had no jurisdiction in this matter. And now, the OPR is saying that Martin investigation was closed in November 2007 with no explantation of its findings.

Here is the OPR function in the DOJ:

The Office of Professional Responsibility, which reports directly to the Attorney General, is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct involving Department attorneys that relate to the exercise of their authority to investigate, litigate or provide legal advice, as well as allegations of misconduct by law enforcement personnel when they are related to allegations of attorney misconduct within the jurisdiction of OPR.

And who is the Counsel for the OPR?: H. Marshall Jarrett.

And what is the procedure of OPR of a complaint?:

Upon receipt, OPR reviews each allegation and determines whether further investigation is warranted. The determination whether to open an investigation in a specific case is a matter of investigative judgment. Many factors are weighed, including the nature of the allegation, its apparent credibility, its specificity, its susceptibility to verification, and the source of the allegation.

A decision to open a matter does not give rise to a presumption of misconduct nor does it shift the burden of proof to the person being investigated. OPR's investigations involve a wide range of allegations, and the investigative methods used vary accordingly.

In many cases, OPR notifies the attorney against whom the allegation has been made and requests a written response. OPR may also conduct on-site investigations. Based on the results of the investigation, OPR prepares a report to the component head concerned with a copy to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General setting forth its findings and conclusions, and advises the complainant and the attorney involved of the conclusion reached.

Let's review. Martin's investigation was closed in November 2007. Keep in mind, Gonzo resigned as AG in September 17, 2007. And the acting Attorney General was Peter Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

Yup, smells and sounds like a cover-up.