WHEELING - Leaked documents that surfaced this week reveal that the U.S. Justice Department asked the House Ethics Committee last summer to back off its investigation of U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan.
The move typically means that federal law enforcement wants to move further on its own investigation and doesn't want a separate Congressional investigation to interfere with its probe.
On Friday Mollohan, D-W.Va., remained adamant that he is not aware of being the subject of any federal investigation.
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MOLLOHAN
"As I have said a number of times in the past, I do not know whether any investigation is ongoing or not," Mollohan said. "I have not been contacted."
Internal investigations into the conduct of more than two dozen House members were exposed this week in an extraordinary, Internet-era breach involving the secretive process by which Congress polices lawmaker ethics. House Ethics Committee Chairwoman U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., announced Thursday that a confidential weekly report of the committee from July had leaked out in a case of ''cyber-hacking.''
A committee statement said its security was breached through ''peer to peer file sharing software'' used by a junior employee who was working from home. The employee was fired.
Mollohan's name was among those surfacing in the leaked report, as the committee was asked to suspend its investigation of Mollohan, whose personal finances and dealings have been under scrutiny since 2006.
In 2006, Mollohan served as ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, and he was asked about the committee's investigation of then-U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio. Mollohan said at that time that he could not comment regarding investigations of members.
"But if we undertake an investigation of an individual - and the U.S. Justice Department is also investigating this individual - the Justice Department feels we could be interfering and undermining their ability to prosecute if some of the testimony and information were to become public.
"They could recommend that we suspend our investigation. We don't have to do this, but we would seriously consider their request," Mollohan said in 2006.
Ney later that year was indicted on federal charges and eventually served time in prison.
Allegations of corruption - and reports of a subsequent federal investigation - first surfaced against Mollohan in 2006. That was when the National Legal and Policy Center in Washington issued a report outlining allegations concerning the congressman's dealings with nonprofits in West Virginia and his personal wealth.
No charges have ever been filed against Mollohan, and there has never been an official announcement that he has been cleared of any allegations. The U.S. Department of Justice has refused to respond to repeated requests for comment from The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register over the past several months.
Mollohan has said repeatedly that he has not been informed of any federal investigation pertaining to his dealings.
He presently serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies - the committee that sets the budget for both the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
Mollohan had vowed he would abstain from any votes pertaining to the agencies while he was under investigation. This year, he nevertheless participated in approving their appropriations.
It was the National Legal and Policy Center that first began asking questions about Mollohan's dealings and personal wealth in April 2006. At that time, its findings were turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
Allegations indicate Mollohan earmarked $369 million in federal grants to his district for 254 separate projects between 1997 and 2006, and that more than $200 million of that money was directed to five nonprofit organizations staffed by his friends and colleagues.
The Associated Press, citing a Washington Post article, reports the leaked document was disclosed on a publicly accessible computer network and made available to the newspaper by a source familiar with such networks.
According to the article, more than 30 lawmakers and a few staff members were under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee, including nearly half the members of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
The names included three lawmakers previously identified in the inquiry: the chairman of the defense subcommittee, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; and Reps. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., and James Moran, D-Va.
The Post said others whose names were in the report included Reps. Norm Dicks, D-Wash.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla.; and Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan.
The Ethics Committee, however, has not announced an investigation of any of these lawmakers.