A national group representing federal prosecutors has asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate claims highlighted in a recent Carolina Journal cover story. Rick Henderson has details.
Citing reporting from Carolina Journal, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys has asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to launch a formal investigation into the handling by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Raleigh of the prosecution of gang leader and contract killer Reynaldo Calderon.
“We are writing to express our grave concern about information that has come to our attention regarding the manner in which a recent death threat against then Assistant United States Attorney Denise Walker was handled by United States Attorney Thomas Walker and First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruce in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” wrote Steven Cook, president of the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys.
Cook’s letter to Lynch dated Sept. 8, said, “We have corroborated much of what is contained in [the CJ] article,” and called “on the Department [of Justice] to expeditiously conduct a full investigation into this case, gather the facts, and proceed appropriately.” Cook is an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
In an interview with CJ, Cook said, “We had an ethical and legal obligation to report this. We will defer to the Justice Department for what an investigation reveals.”
