Senators Coons, Durbin, Lee reintroduce bipartisan legislation bolstering accountability for alleged Justice Department attorney misconduct

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), and several of their colleagues reintroduced bipartisan legislation to expand the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General to include alleged DOJ attorney misconduct. Senators Coons, Durbin, and Lee are all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Currently, the DOJ Inspector General (IG) has no authority to investigate professional misconduct by DOJ lawyers. DOJ is the only agency whose IG has such a jurisdictional carve-out. The Inspector General Access Act would simply strike this loophole, which leads to an unfair double standard where every other DOJ employee - including FBI and DEA agents, U.S. Marshals, and federal prison guards - can be investigated by the DOJ IG except DOJ lawyers.

"No one is above the law - and that includes the lawyers who enforce those laws in court," said Senator Coons. "DOJ lawyers should be subject to the same rules as all other government employees, so Americans can have faith in the men and women who are deciding whom to prosecute and how to implement our nation's laws."

"The American people deserve top-notch attorneys representing them at the Justice Department, and Justice Department prosecutors should be subject to independent oversight regardless of the Attorney General. Allegations of professional misconduct should be investigated by the Inspector General, or else we could end up with another instance like the Jeffrey Epstein sweetheart deal struck by then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta. This is a simple, bipartisan fix for a clear loophole in federal law, and I thank Senator Lee for joining me in this effort," said Senator Durbin.

"The current IG oversight exemption for attorneys is a nonsensical carve out. Our simple bill changes that, ensuring DOJ attorneys are held to the same standard as other federal agencies. I'm proud to partner again with Senator Durbin on this common-sense bipartisan effort," said Senator Lee.

The Inspector General Access Act solves the problem that has long prevented independent oversight of DOJ prosecutors by simply striking the jurisdictional carve out in Section 413 of Title 5, United States Code. As a result, DOJ's Inspector General would be fully empowered to investigate allegations of misconduct against Department lawyers. In addition to enhancing oversight and public accountability at DOJ, this simple, common-sense reform will bring DOJ in line with the practices in other federal agencies where allegations of attorney professional misconduct are already subject to investigation by Inspectors General.

Along with Durbin and Lee, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

The legislation is endorsed by the American Governance Institute, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Due Process Institute, Fix the Court, the Government Accountability Project, National Security Counselors, the National Taxpayers Union, the Project On Government Oversight, Protect Democracy, Public Citizen, Right on Crime, and the Workers Circle.

"Nonpartisan inspectors general play a key role in combating corruption, waste, and abuse across the federal government, and help ensure Americans' tax dollars are used efficiently for the public's benefit. The bipartisan Inspector General Access Act (IGAA) would further this goal by allowing the Justice Department Inspector General to investigate alleged misconduct involving department attorneys in order to ensure integrity and prevent corruption among these federal employees who exercise immense power in the provision of legal advice and the enforcement of federal law. CREW is proud to endorse the IGAA and urges the Senate to pass this legislation without delay," said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

The full text of the legislation can be found here.