Jun 3, 2008 6:30 pm US/Eastern
Subpoena Sent To Nonpartisan Unit In Currie Probe
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
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Federal investigators have sent a subpoena related to a probe involving an influential state senator to a state agency.
CBS
Federal prosecutors are seeking computer files and documents from state Sen. Ulysses Currie, his staff and the powerful committee he chairs, according to a sweeping subpoena made public Monday.
The U.S. attorney's office sent the subpoena to Karl Aro, the executive director of the Department of Legislative Services, which conducts administrative and technological support to members of the Maryland General Assembly.
The subpoena states that federal authorities want "all documents relating to the office of Senator Ulysses Currie," including legislative activities, notes, agendas, correspondence, e-mails, telephone directories, financial records and a long list of other documents related to his activities.
Prosecutors are seeking records relating to "outside employment with any entity" as well as volunteer work, consulting and "interactions with any state or local government agency or board, or its personnel."
Federal prosecutors want "all computers and electronic hardware, and all computer files or electronic files, used by Senator Currie or his staff."
The subpoena also seeks "all documents contained within the offices of: the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, its subcommittees, the committee's staff, or the subcommittee's staff."
The subpoena orders Aro to appear before a federal grand jury in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on June 11 or to send the requested documents to the FBI in lieu of personal appearance.
Richard Wolf, a spokesman for the FBI's Baltimore field office, declined to comment on the subpoena.
Currie, a 70-year-old Democrat, chairs the committee, which directs spending of the state's $32 billion budget. He is a former teacher who was elected to the state Senate in 1994, after serving eight years in the state House.
Details of the subpoena were made public four days after FBI agents searched Currie's District Heights home on the same day they searched the headquarters of Shoppers Food Warehouse, for whom Currie works as a consultant.
Currie had not divulged his work as a consultant for the grocery store in any of his financial disclosure statements to the State Ethics Commission.
Currie has said he does not know what the investigation is about and has referred questions to his attorney, Dale Kelberman, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Leotta and Kathleen Gavin are working on the case. Leotta and Gavin prosecuted former state Sen. Thomas Bromwell, who once chaired the Senate Finance Committee and was sentenced last year to seven years in prison for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for securing state contracts while in office.
Last week, after the FBI searched Currie's home, Maryland Republican Party Chairman James Pelura called on Currie to step down from his position as chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, at least while the investigation is ongoing.
On Monday, Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor criticized the GOP, saying Currie "has a long and exemplary record of service to his community and the state of Maryland."
"We would be wise to reserve judgment on any man or woman with such a track record until all the facts are in and the scrutiny has run its course," Cryor said in a statement. "Chairman Currie has earned bipartisan respect and praise for his integrity and fairness."
Federal prosecutors are not commenting on the investigation and a phone call to Currie's office was not returned.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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