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Chief prosecutor tight-lipped about Loudoun probe
The office of the federal prosecutor overseeing the investigation into land-use dealings by current and former Loudoun County officials looks like the den of the world's biggest sports fan.Chuck Rosenberg, the 49th United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexander Hamilton was the first), presides over 115 tenacious and diligent federal prosecutors in Alexandria.
They are also investigating Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, and in recent years, scored convictions or copped pleas from some of the world's most notorious miscreants, from 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui to former FBI official and convicted spy Robert Hanssen.
Despite his high profile, Rosenberg is an unassuming man. A small TV in his office is tuned to the New York Mets game, and the walls are lined with photos of his kids and their Little League triumphs (Rosenberg is their proud coach). MacMillan's "Baseball Encyclopedia" is the reference book of choice -- no bulging tome on federal rules for civil procedure.
A pair of boxing gloves hangs next to his desk, a memento from his staff from the time he wrestled with an unruly defendant in court.
"In that particular case, the defendant was not pleased with the verdict so he bit one of the U.S. marshals on the face," Rosenberg recalled last week, in an interview. "I thought the court security officer needed a little help, so I jumped on him. You may see that on television occasionally, but you don't see that in court."
The defendant, of course, faced more legal woes from Rosenberg, one of the nation's leading prosecutors. "We ended up prosecuting him again for assaulting a federal officer," he said. "It wasn't really a joke, but it was rather odd."
Rosenberg is understandably tight-lipped about pending cases, such as the high-profile indictment of Vick, who's been charged with running an illegal dog-fighting ring, and the probe into land-use dealings by current and former Loudoun officials.
"This is still pending," Rosenberg said of the Vick case, "I don't want to talk about it. Michael Vick has been indicted, but it's still pending." Vick agreed Aug. 20 to "accept full responsibility" for his role in a dog-fighting ring and plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges.
On the Loudoun County case, while U.S. Department of Justice policy is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation until grand jury indictments are handed down, members of the county's Board of Supervisors confirmed last month they were interviewed by FBI officials.
"With respect to Loudoun County, this is also pending," Rosenberg said. "I'd rather not say anything at all. I don't mean to be difficult, but our local rules of court prohibit me from commenting on pending matters. It's a fair question, I just can't comment on it."
He offered no timetable as to when the investigation, which began in February, would be concluded.
President George W. Bush nominated Rosenberg as the chief law enforcement officer for the Eastern District last year, and he was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2006, charged with overseeing U.S. attorney offices in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond. In this role he supervises the prosecution of all federal crimes, and the litigation of all civil matters in which the federal government has an interest.
Thank goodness someone is finally looking into corruption on the Board of Supervisors. Its about time!
Posted by Waya
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