Prosecutor Scolded for Pushing Indictments

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s U.S. attorney has been ordered to submit proposed public corruption indictments to superiors for approval after he exhorted his staff to produce three “front page” indictments of elected officials by the first week of November.

Democratic officials said two e-mails this month and an earlier memo showed that U.S. Atty. Thomas DiBiagio, a Republican appointee of President Bush, was conducting partisan prosecutions, and called for his resignation.

In a Friday letter to DiBiagio, Deputy U.S. Atty. Gen. James B. Comey Jr. ordered the prosecutor to submit proposed indictments in public corruption cases to him. “We can never allow political considerations -- or the perception of such considerations -- to taint the work done by our dedicated investigators and prosecutors,” Comey said.

DiBiagio, in a statement released Friday, said he regretted sending any improper message and that Comey’s order “will be followed without exception.”

The controversy started Thursday, when The Baltimore Sun published documents including DiBiagio’s agenda for a May staff meeting, which outlined goals he wants to accomplish by “Nov. 6” to make the Maryland U.S. attorney’s office the nation’s “premier office.” He wrote that he wanted “Three ‘Front Page’ White Collar/Public Corruption Indictments” by that date.

On July 1, he pointed to indictments that had been unsealed against city officials in Philadelphia and wrote, “Why aren’t we doing cases like this?”

The only known probe of municipal elected officials underway in DiBiagio’s office is into the 19-member, all-Democratic Baltimore City Council. DiBiagio’s office has subpoenaed all the members for five years of documents detailing their financial dealings.

“For nearly three years, Mr. DiBiagio has used the U.S. attorney’s office primarily for political witch hunts and now we have damning evidence to prove what many have long suspected,” Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Isiah Leggett said. “Mr. DiBiagio must step down.”