Bama U.S. Attorney Investigated for Perjury

Alice Martin, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, is under investigation for perjury according to documentation obtained by the Political Parlor.

The Office of Professional Responsibility for the Department of Justice is investigating whether Martin committed perjury in a deposition related to an EEOC complaint against Martin’s office. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ultimately ordered Martin to rehire a fired assistant prosecutor and her supervisor, concluding that Martin’s office fired the assistant prosecutor as retaliation for filing a racial discrimination complaint. The EEOC found Martin’s explanation of the matter “simply unworthy of credence.”

The fired assistant prosecutor, Deirdra Brown Fleming, raised the allegations of perjury in Martin’s 2003 deposition. The DoJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility declined to investigate the perjury allegation at the time because the EEOC matter was ongoing.

After the EEOC matter was decided in favor of Fleming and against Alice Martin’s office, the Office of Professional Responsibility re-visited the matter and decided to initiate an inquiry into the perjury allegations, as indicated in this letter (pdf).

A spokesperson for Alice Martin’s office would not comment and referred me to the DoJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, saying that it would be inappropriate to comment on what is actually an OPR matter.

Nadira Clarke, who signed the letter (pdf) saying that OPR was initiating an investigation, said that OPR would not comment on an ongoing investigation.