Now Reading: DOJ lawyer avoids bar action over Post reporter raid
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DOJ lawyer avoids bar action over Post reporter raid
A Virginia state bar has closed an ethics complaint against a veteran US prosecutor who sought a search warrant against a Washington Post reporter. Federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg will not face discipline,…
The Story in Brief
A Virginia state bar has closed an ethics complaint against a veteran US prosecutor who sought a search warrant against a Washington Post reporter. Federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg will not face discipline, the bar said in a July letter. Magistrate judge William Porter had criticised Kromberg in February for failing to disclose a federal law, the Privacy Protection Act, that limits searches of journalists.
The bar’s dismissal letter gave no detailed reasoning. Press groups criticised the decision. Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation called it a blow to press freedom, saying Kromberg’s omission might have prevented the January raid on reporter Hannah Natanson’s home. Kromberg’s lawyers argued the omission was routine.
The Indian Opinion
For ordinary Indian readers, this case is a reminder that official accountability often has a glass ceiling. A judge found a prosecutor misled a court. The bar then drops the matter without explanation. Whether the prosecutor genuinely believed the law did not apply or deliberately hid it, the public deserves a clear ruling. The test now is whether the Justice Department itself will act where the bar did not, or if this becomes another story where the system protects its own.
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
