The issue focused on whether tax laws prevent federal government agencies from imposing criminal penalties for illegal financial transactions.


But legal experts said the Justice Department lawyers had done more than simply defend federal law. They also served as political attorneys.


"You would think that Justice Department lawyers who have prosecutorial discretion and moral authority in civil litigation would go out of their way to bring prosecutions," said attorney Richard Zabel, a former prosecutor at the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "And they don't do it."

