By Sara Kropf There seems to be a disturbing trend by Department of Justice attorneys to encourage defense counsel to disqualify themselves based on a supposed “conflict of interest” without disclosing to defense counsel why the prosecutor thinks a conflict exists....
By Dan Portnov You know that it’s been a busy month in law enforcement news when a speech and memo announcement by DOJ Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Brian Benczkowski concerning corporate criminal penalties arrives with little fanfare. It must be...
By: Sara Kropf The government usually turns over interview memos, or FBI 302s, during discovery in a criminal case. As I’ve written before, a 302 is a summary of a witness interview written by an FBI agent. It is in narrative form, sometimes has quotes in it (but more...
By: Sara Kropf The following excerpt is from our upcoming e-book, A Guide to OIG Investigations for Federal Employees and Contractors. It’s filled with all sorts of useful information on the OIG investigations. We chose this excerpt in light of recent news about the...
By: Sara Kropf On September 4, 2019, after just a few hours of deliberation, a jury in federal district court in Washington, DC found former White House counsel Gregory Craig not guilty of one count of making a false statement. Mr. Craig had an excellent legal team...
By Dan Portnov I’ll make a confession: I am not a trial attorney. If you need a Johnny Cochran or Benjamin Brafman-type courtroom wizard, I’m not your guy and I never will be. Still… I love trial. I’ve done several and had my moments of glory. It is a rush and...
By: Sara Kropf When I first started doing white-collar criminal defense work as an associate at a big firm, I noticed that the partner always seemed to know the other lawyers on the case. They had been AUSAs together, or worked at Main Justice at the same time, or...
By Dan Portnov If you’re a federal employee or individual under investigation by an Office of Inspector General, waiting for an update or some sign of progress from the OIG can be agonizing. As we’ve written before,[1] OIG policies and procedures are often opaque, and...
Note: This is the second part of an article that was first published in the ABA Criminal Justice magazine. By: Sara Kropf In Part I of this article, we analyzed the difference between blackmail and extortion and examined the various federal statutes that govern those...
By Dan Portnov (photo from USAToday.com) In perhaps the biggest news story of a slow August, Jeffrey Epstein apparently hung himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan early Saturday morning.[1] Epstein’s suicide launched multiple...