This is getting strange. In
today's Globe story on the Andrea Cabral affair, US Attorney Michael Sullivan seems to flat-out contradict the account offered by Cabral, her attorney Walter Prince, and her friend Ralph Martin in yesterday's press conference. Here are the key paragraphs:
"In a statement released last night, Sullivan said the assertions by Cabral's lawyers were false. 'There has never been any such investigation of the US attorney's office by the Office of Public Integrity regarding this matter,' he said.
"Referring to Martin and Prince, Sullivan said, 'I was surprised that two well-respected members of the bar would be so reckless with the facts.'"
But then
Globe reporter Shelley Murphy throws in this nugget: "The Justice Department's Office of Responsibility is conducting a leak investigation over a story that appeared in the Globe about the federal grand jury investiation, according to Sullivan." How does that square with Sullivan's earlier comments?
To further complicate matters, Sullivan's aforementioned emphatic denial sems to involve a DOJ branch that
doesn't exist. Take a look at
this list of the DOJ's constituent parts. Unless I'm missing something, there's no Office of Public Integrity. There is an Office of Professional Responsibility, which was mentioned by name at yesterday's press conference. (This, presumbably, is what Murphy is alluding to when she mentions an Office of Responsibility.)
It would be truly bizarre if Sullivan is denying an investigation by a nonexistent DOJ office. We need more information here. From both sides.