The DOJ document dump has some interesting information about Congressmen and their staff directly contacting USAs. There's a lot more contact between Congressmen and the U.S. Attorneys office than CREW would like us to believe. For example:
1) A Feinstein staffer had direct contact with SD CA USA Carol Lam's office regarding Lam's policy on illegal immigration in early June 2006. According to an
e-mail from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nancy Scott-Finan, the "good news is that Senator Feinstein's staffer Renee has finally called me for information instead of calling SD Ca directly. . She would like to know the prosecution guidelines for 18 USC Secs. 1324 and 1326 for not only Southern District of California, but also El Paso, Yuma and Tuscon." (Page 16)
2) If I'm reading
this properly (Page 5), Feinstein also sent a letter to SD CA USA Lam, urging her to review an FBI request for warrants in a foreign abduction case.
3) Lam also met directly with some of the California Republican Congressional delegation to discuss their concerns about her enforcement of the immigration laws.
4) In general, as Nancy Scott-Finan vented in a
2007 e-mail: “I receive reports about Members reaching out to the USAs about cases all too frequently and have to return calls with the “neither confirm nor deny” or provide the public record pleadings.” (Page 56)
I truly wonder how often my grandstanding Senator Schumer has contacted the NY U.S. Attorneys' offices about cases.