Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday she wants answers about the departure of the former U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, who resigned last October before the Justice Department's dismissal of eight other U.S. attorneys sparked controversy.
"I have questions about Debra Yang's departure and I can't answer those questions right at this time," Feinstein, D-Calif. and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters in response to a question. "Was she asked to resign, and if so, why? We have to ferret that out."
Debra Wong Yang went to work for a private law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and has said she left of her own accord.
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Feinstein noted Tuesday that there are numerous names blacked out in documents the Justice Department has released in recent days in response to the controversy. Feinstein did not specify what her concerns were about Yang, but she has complained repeatedly that six of the eight U.S. attorneys dismissed last year were in the midst of prosecuting public corruption cases, mostly focused on Republicans.
About five months before Yang's departure, her office had opened an investigation into ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and a lobbyist. Gibson Dunn, the firm that hired her, is also the firm where Lewis' legal team works, but government rules required that she step aside in that case or any other she was involved with while a government prosecutor.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-20-feinstein_N.htm?csp=34