Rep. Henry A. Waxman, (D-Calif.) said the government's court filing should be scrutinized by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, which is investigating allegations of political interference in the case at the request of Waxman and seven other lawmakers.
"This brief shows that the department had confidence in the legal merits of its request . . . as recently as five weeks ago," Waxman said. "I am now even more concerned that this decision was made to benefit the tobacco industry, not the health of the American people."
From NY Times:
...The newly disclosed documents make clear that the decision was made after weeks of tumult in the department and accusations from lawyers on the tobacco team that Mr. McCallum and other political appointees had effectively undermined their case. Mr. McCallum, No. 3 at the department, is a close friend of President Bush from their days as Skull & Bones members at Yale, and he was also a partner at an Atlanta law firm, Alston & Bird, that has done legal work for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, part of Reynolds American, a defendant in the case.
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