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Document DOJ-OGR-00021859

AI Analysis

Summary: The document analyzes the authority of U.S. Attorneys and their ability to bind other districts or the nation, referencing the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Epstein NPA. It highlights that there's no indication USAO-SDNY was notified or approved Epstein's NPA with USAO-SDFL. The historical context of the U.S. Attorney's Office is used to argue that one U.S. Attorney's actions may not be binding on other districts.
Significance: This document is potentially important because it discusses the scope of authority of U.S. Attorneys and whether one district's actions can bind others or the nation, using the Epstein NPA as a case study.
Key Topics: Authority of U.S. Attorneys Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) involving Epstein Historical context of U.S. Attorney's Office
Key People:
  • Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division - stated she played no role in Epstein's NPA

Full Text

the United States Attorney(s) in each affected district and/or the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division.15 Nothing before us indicates that USAO-SDNY had been notified or had approved of Epstein's NPA with USAO-SDFL and intended to be bound by it. And the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division stated in an interview with the Office of Professional Responsibility that she "played no role" in the NPA, either by reviewing or approving the agreement. The history of the Office of the United States Attorney is instructive as to the scope of their actions and duties. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Office of the United States Attorney, along with the office of the Attorney General. More specifically, the Judiciary Act provided for the appointment, in each district, of a "person learned in the law to act as attorney for the United States in such district, who shall be sworn or affirmed to the faithful execution of his office, whose duty it shall be to prosecute in such district all delinquents for crimes and offences, cognizable under the authority of the United States, and all civil actions in which the United States shall be concerned."16 The Judiciary Act thus emphasized that U.S. Attorneys would enforce the law of the United States but did not determine that the actions of one U.S. Attorney could bind other districts, let alone the entire nation. In fact, the phrase "in such district," repeated twice, implies that the scope of 15 United States Attorney's Manual § 9-27.641 (2007). 16 An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, ch. 20, § 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93 (1789) (emphasis added).