DOJ won’t investigate Fattah’s grand jury claims

One arm of the Justice Department will not investigate a claim by Chaka FattahJr. that prosecutors leakedgrand jury details about him.

But another arm of the department is examining claims over Fattah’s ability to defend himself in court after an FBI agent Richard Haag leaked information about a raid at his Center City condo.

Fattah, who was convicted in Nov. 5 of bank and tax fraud charges, claimed in a letter after his conviction that he lost his consulting gig after word of the raid reached the media, and that he was forced to defend himself because he could not afford an attorney.

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He was informed in a letter from the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility that a portion of his claims would not be investigated.

But Fattah has claimed victory, because the letter could be interpreted to mean that the Office of Inspector General is reviewing other claims.

“The allegations against FBI Special Agent Richard Haag and three Department of Justice attorneys concerning the disclosure of information about the case to the media, which are contained in the first 11 pages of your letter, have been referred to the OIG. Any questions you may have about those matters should be addressed to the OIG.”

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To Fattah, that’s good news.

“I think it’s fair to suggest there will be an investigation into the media leaks,” Fattah Jr. said.

A Justice Department spokesman did not return calls for comment, neither did the DOJ lawyer who responded to Fattah’scomplaint.

Fattah is the son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who was charged with offenses related to bribery and corruption.

Rep. Fattah has pleaded not guilty to those charges.