Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Outside Prosecutor

Not quite sure exactly what that means or how independent he really will be, but I suppose that's at least a little promising.

An investigation of this kind, relating to the CIA, would ordinarily
be conducted under the supervision of the United States Attorney for the
Eastern District of Virginia, the District in which the CIA headquarters
are located. However, in an abundance of caution and on the request of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in accordance
with Department of Justice policy, his office has been recused from the
investigation of this matter, in order to avoid any possible appearance of
a conflict with other matters handled by that office.



As a result, I have asked John Durham, the First Assistant United
States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of
Connecticut, to serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of Virginia for purposes of this matter. Mr. Durham is a widely
respected and experienced career prosecutor who has supervised a wide range
of complex investigations in the past, and I am grateful to him for his
willingness to serve in this capacity. As the Acting United States Attorney
for purposes of this investigation, Mr. Durham will report to the Deputy
Attorney General, as do all United States Attorneys in the ordinary course.
I have also directed the FBI to conduct the investigation under Mr.
Durham's supervision.