In November 2020, a group of 16 career prosecutors wrote a letter to William Barr protesting a memo that opened the door to voting fraud investigations before the election results were certified.
The letter expressed concern that Barr's memo thrust career prosecutors into partisan politics and that they spoke from authority as specially assigned monitors of election malfeasance. The Justice Department advised US attorneys not to take any action that could be considered retaliation after their message grabbed headlines.
In Pittsburgh the next morning, Scott Brady had a quick question: Could he ask a career prosecutor in his office if he could fulfill his duties as a district election officer?
The district election officer designation is completely discretionary and has no status, rank or compensation attached to it. Brady asked if removing someone's district election officer designation should not be seen as retributive in the whistleblower context or implicate any other protections.
Brady mentioned the prosecutor's wife in a personal attack that the Justice Department's internal watchdog recently condemned as unbecoming of a US Attorney or any DOJ leader.
Insider obtained a 10-page inspector general report about Brady's conduct through the Freedom of Information Act. The Justice Department's inspector general faulted the US attorney for exercising poor judgment and impugning the career prosecutor's character, but it did not name him.
Brady was identified as the former US attorney on Thursday. The more detailed, 10-page report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act confirmed Brady as the US attorney and shed light on the atmosphere within the Justice Department as Donald Trump made false claims of widespread election fraud.
Brady did not respond to a request for comment. He left the Justice Department in February 2021.
The inspector general investigated after a reporter asked Brady about the voting fraud investigations and the letter career prosecutors had sent to Barr.
Brady said he couldn't comment on any existing investigations.
According to the 10-page report, the inspector general received a complaint asserting that Brady's remarks not only undermined the assistant US attorney's professional reputation, but also raised potential security issues for him and his family.
The Executive Office of US Attorneys in the Justice Department contacted Brady after the press conference.
Brady was described by the Justice Department as unrepentant and dismissive of concerns about his remarks at the press conference.
During our interview 11 weeks after the press conference, Brady told the inspector general's office that he did not find his response to the reporter troubling.
According to the report, an official in the Executive Office of US Attorneys told investigators that Brady made light of the situation and claimed the press conference remarks were being blown out of proportion.
The official recalled Brady saying, "damn it, I'm not going to say anything to him."
Brady's comments ran contrary to Justice Department guidance and he reflected poorly on DOJ.
The inspector general said that the remarks did not constitute a violation of any rule, policy, or guideline because the Justice Department lacks standards of conduct that were applicable to the situation.
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