Fattah, In Letter, Seeks Document Preservation

Nearly three weeks after he was indicted on federal charges that included money laundering, bribery, racketeering, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and filing false statements, Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) wrote a letter to a pair of House committees “ requesting that they preserve evidence related to a Department of Justice case against him to ensure there was no prosecutorial misconduct,” the letter said.

The letter began by stating that members of Congress who are associated with the appropriations process have long been targeted with “unconstitutional and illegal investigations.” Fattah has spent many years as the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

“Legal experts following the case are deeply troubled that some in the Department of Justice may have potentially blurred the lines of the separation of powers, engaged in tactics with the intention to influence a political process, and performed other documented examples of misconduct,” the letter continued.

Fattah went on to list several former lawmakers accused of wrongdoing but later cleared or not charged, including former Rep. Joseph McDade (R-Pa.) Then he listed several things- violation of representative rights of private citizens, violation of grand jury secrecy law, attempted coercion to break federal law, and “questionable motives” of the lead investigator- that he claims have been wrongly done to him in the investigation.

The letter, in PDF form, can be read here.

Fattah has vowed to retain his seat in Congress.