US Justice Dept sent armed Marshals to warn ex-lawyer over congressional testimony, letter shows

PHOTO CAPTION: A U.S. marshal’s badge and service pistol are seen on Aug. 5, 2019. (Dave Oney / U.S. Marshals)

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department planned to send armed U.S. Marshals to deliver a letter warning a fired career pardon attorney about testifying to Congress, her lawyer said in a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.

“This highly unusual step of directing armed law enforcement officers to the home of a former Department of Justice employee who has engaged in no misconduct, let alone criminal conduct, simply to deliver a letter, is both unprecedented and completely inappropriate,” Michael Bromwich, a lawyer representing fired pardon attorney Liz Oyer, wrote to the Justice Department.

The marshals were called off on Friday only after Oyer acknowledged having received the letter by email, Bromwich wrote.

Oyer, who served as the pardon attorney during President Joe Biden's tenure, was one of several career officials fired by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on March 7.

Oyer has since told various media outlets that her firing came shortly after she declined to recommend restoring gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, a supporter of President Donald Trump.

She is one of several Justice Department officials who is slated to testify later on Monday afternoon before Congress about the Trump administration's treatment of the Justice Department and law firms who act in cases disliked by the Republican president.

A Justice Department spokesman did not have any immediate comment.

In the letter to Oyer, which was seen by Reuters, Associate Deputy Attorney General Kendra Wharton said that the department has "significant confidentiality interests." 

These were particularly strong in Oyer's case because of the role that Oyer played in making clemency recommendations for the president, said the letter, which referred to the executive privilege doctrine that shields some presidential communications from disclosure to Congress.

"Should you choose to appear before Congress, the department expects that you will abide by your obligations under the law, Department policy, and the applicable rules of professional responsibility," Wharton wrote.

"Those matters include the deliberative processes that underlie pardons, clemency, the restoration of firearm rights, and related decisions."

 (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Graff)