The fair, equal, and apolitical administration of justice relies on a strong career cadre of federal prosecutors with deep knowledge of the law and insulation from political retaliation. The merit hiring system ensures only qualified AUSAs are handling federal criminal and civil cases. The civil service protections in place ensure AUSAs are only fired for their incompetence, not their refusal to execute a political demand.

NAAUSA believes that Assistant U.S. Attorneys and all DOJ attorneys should be held to the highest standards – and we believe the systems currently in place do support and enforce those standards fairly.

The Inspector General Access Act (IG Access Act) has been proposed as a necessary measure for increasing accountability and transparency at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), making it politically toxic to oppose. This characterization could not be farther from the truth.

On behalf of the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (NAAUSA), representing the interests of over 6,000 Assistant U.S. Attorneys working in the 94 U.S. Attorney Offices, I write to offer NAAUSA’s response to the request by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) for comment on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to implement the beneficial ownership reporting requirements in the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

Congress’ intent with the CTA was to create a meaningful database that is “highly useful” to law enforcement, including our nation’s criminal and civil prosecutors.

NAAUSA believes that Assistant U.S. Attorneys and all DOJ attorneys should be held to the highest standards – and we believe the systems currently in place do support and enforce those standards fairly.