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If Congressional Investigators Come Knocking, Here's What to Do
DynCorp, which has dealt with congressional investigators, prepared law enforcement officers headed for Iraq to train police.
(By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
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Keith Ausbrook, Republican general counsel for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, offered this: Most any contract done on short notice and quickly is an invitation to an investigation.
"If you think you've got a deal that's too good to be true," he said, "you might find yourself in a congressional hearing."
"Don't promise you're going to cooperate if you're not going to deliver," warned Theodore D. Chuang, deputy chief investigative counsel for Waxman. He reminded the audience that Congress can get privileged and classified information.
"Be honest and candid with the committee," Chuang said. "It has discretion on whether to investigate and how to investigate."
Success in front of a congressional inquiry isn't the same as winning a case, lawyers explained. Success could simply mean limiting the coverage of your client's investigation to a single day's newspaper story, said Baron, who co-chairs the congressional investigations team at Holland & Knight.
One more tip: Don't ignore any congressional letter, because that often will get ratcheted up to a subpoena.
And what to do if you do get a subpoena?
"Go to church," Sikorski said.
