June 14, 2005
Pointing to what he called evidence of political interference in the Department of Justice's litigation against the tobacco industry, consumer advocate Ralph Nader has called for an ethics investigation into Associate Attorney General Robert D. McCallum.
Nader filed his complaint with the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility, which is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by Justice Department attorneys.
"On June 7, the U.S. Justice Department, allegedly at the direction of Mr. McCallum, dramatically departed from its presumed position in the litigation in a way that blatantly favors the tobacco industry at the expense of the public interest," the complaint reads.
"This sudden shift shocked every observer of the litigation, including tobacco industry attorneys, who publicly mocked the move and said it demonstrated the government's case was in disarray," Nader noted.
McCallum has explained the shift, saying the government was seeking to comply with the terms of an appellate court decision.
"This was transparently a rationale chasing an already-reached, politicized decision," Nader said. "The government offered no explanation of how it would limit the cessation treatment to newly addicted smokers, and commentators quickly came to a consensus that the government had not proposed a workable plan."
Nader's complaint highlights McCallum's previous work for a firm that represented the tobacco industry, and questions why McCallum was given clearance to work on a tobacco-related case,
The complaint is not limited to conflict of interest claims.
"If McCallum in fact did override the government lawyers managing the tobacco RICO litigation in the reported fashion, he inappropriately conferred benefits upon the tobacco industry defendants," Nader said.
"In so doing, he apparently violated the most basic commandment of the Code of Ethics for federal employees: ... 'Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party or Government department.'"
Such apparent ethical transgressions "are all the more serious when the underlying matters at stake affect, literally, millions of lives," Nader concluded.
