DC Attorney General Nathan Testifies In World Bank Case And Denies Any Wrongdoing By Staff Or Need For Investigation

As reported this morning in various newspapers and sites, the World Bank case (Chang) ended its evidentiary hearings before Special Master John M. Facciola, United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, yesterday with the testimony of District of Columbia Attorney General Irvin Nathan. Like his predecessor, ex-AG Peter Nickles, Nathan was called by the court to answer questions on the latest controversy over false statements in filings by his office and the failure to inform the court for 70 days that someone had attempted to delete evidence in the case. As co-lead counsel, I am limited in what I feel comfortable in saying about the case, but, given the inquiries on yesterday’s hearing I wanted to give the status in the case.

As noted in coverage, Nathan denied that his staff did anything wrong. He also denied knowledge of the range of allegations against his staff, including involvement in lost evidence or false representations to the Court. Nathan insisted that he saw no need to order an investigation of his staff in light of these allegations. We were surprised by Nathan’s statements inside and outside of the courtroom but much has surprised us in this case. We will let the record speak for itself.

We now have a schedule for the filing of recommended findings to the Special Master for July 2, 2013. Responses are due July 31st. The Special Master will then render his recommendations in the case. The matter will then go back to Judge Sullivan who appointed Judge Facciola to conduct his investigation into the various lines of missing or allegedly altered evidence in the case. The case is currently not set for trial. This is all the information that we have at this time on the schedule and status. My secretary has no further information that can be shared at this time.