This NY Times article reports that the Justice Department’s inspector general and the F.B.I. are looking into the November, 2002 demotion of Frederick A. Black, a veteran federal prosecutor whose reassignment shut down a criminal investigation that he had been pursuing of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Abramoff is a well-known Washington lobbyist and a major Republican Party fund-raiser who is a close confidant of Houston congressman and House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay. Here are the previous posts relating to a broad corruption investigation of Mr. Abramoff focusing on accusations that he defrauded Indian tribes and their gambling operations out of millions of dollars in lobbying fees.

The focus of this newly-revealed investigation is different from the broader corruption probe involving Mr. Abramoff. In this case, the subject is Mr. Black’s demotion only days after he had notified the department’s public integrity division in Washington that he had opened a criminal investigation into Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying activities for federal judges in Guam, who had sought Mr. Abramoff’s help in blocking a bill in Congress to restructure the island court system. In addition, Mr. Black was subsequently blocked from participation in public corruption cases after his demotion. According to the Times article, no evidence has been uncovered to date that indicates that any Justice Department official took the action against Mr. Black in response to any communication from or on behalf of Mr. Abramoff, and evidence does exist that the Bush Administration had been preparing to install a permanent U.S. Attorney to replace Mr. Black at the time.
Nevertheless, the timing of Mr. Black’s demotion sure stinks. Stay tuned.