Statement of the United States Department of Justic e
In Response to Allegations of Impropriety In
Investigation and Prosecution of Geoffrey Fieger

Not only today, but for the past twenty months as well, defendant Geoffrey Fieger has made a number of irresponsible and false claims about the investigation and the professionals in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit, and the FBI who have conducted it. This statement is the Justice Department’s response.

First, defendant Fieger is being prosecuted for what the grand jury alleged he has done, not who he is. The grand jury’s indictment alleges that Mr. Fieger deliberately violated campaign finance laws on more than 60 separate occasions from March 2003 through January 2004.

Defendant Fieger has repeatedly claimed that he is the target of a broad-ranging conspiracy perpetrated by a Republican administration. In fact, the investigation was handled in its entirety by career professionals, in Detroit and at the Public Integrity Section in Washington, who take seriously their duty to impartially investigate and charge criminal offenses. No step in this matter was taken without consultation between the Public Integrity Section, the FBI and the career prosecutors in the Detroit United States Attorney’s Office. In particular, Attorney General Gonzales has had absolutely nothing to do with this case, as the Department of Justice’s spokesman said yesterday, and since November, 2005, United States Attorney Stephen Murphy has not even been part of the chain of command for this matter.

Mr. Fieger has not been singled out for special treatment - there have been dozens of similar prosecutions in this country over the past decade. The Department of Justice does not keep track by party of how many of its corruption or campaign finance cases involved members of which political party, and indeed, it would quite clearly be improper to keep statistics like that. We can say that campaign finance prosecutions have taken place under both Republican and Democratic administrations. It makes no difference to the Public Integrity Section or to the United States Attorney’s Office in Detroit what political party a criminal defendant belongs: simply put, if a suspect violated the law, if the grand jury charges it, and if prosecutors can prove it, the suspect will be prosecuted.

It is important to note that in the Federal Election Campaign Act, passed in 1972, Congress decided that one way to ensure public confidence in government was to limit campaign contributions and to require disclosure of their source. It was these laws that are alleged to have been violated by Mr. Fieger. Then, in 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which is more commonly referred to as the McCain-Feingold amendment. That legislation included stiff new penalties and sentencing guidelines enhancements for campaign finance crimes. In this bipartisan legislation, Congress expressed its intent that the Department of Justice place additional emphasis on the investigation and prosecution of campaign finance cases, which is exactly what is currently being done around the country.

Finally, defendant Fieger has repeatedly claimed that the career prosecutors and FBI case agent have acted improperly in this investigation. All of his allegations are based on misstatements of the law, misstatements of fact, or misstatements of both law and fact. The career prosecutors and the FBI agent handling this case have acted appropriately at all times.

On the issue of fair conduct, it is important to highlight that defendant Fieger was indicted on Wednesday, August 22, while he was in the middle of trying a civil case before a jury in Detroit. At the request of Justice Department prosecutors, the district court sealed the indictment until after jury in defendant Fieger’s civil case returned a verdict. As explained in the motion to seal the indictment, the Department did not want to prejudice any party in that civil suit, including defendant Fieger and his client, by the news that defendant Fieger had been indicted. Only after defendant Fieger’s civil case had concluded, and the danger of unfair prejudice was no longer present, was the indictment unsealed.

This statement has not commented on the evidence in this case and the Department will not as it would be improper and unfair to the defendants to do so. Defendant Geoffrey Fieger is presumed innocent and the evidence supporting the charged allegations will only be made public in a court of law. Anyone who participates in this trial, anyone who covers it for the media, anyone sitting home watching the proceedings should follow this process with an appreciation for our legal system and the important rights it grants to the accused. The public should expect this case to be tried in a court of law, not the court of public opinion.

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