Opinion ID: 711029
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Allegation and First Vindication

Text: 10 In March 1987, Roger Pilon was named the Director of the Asylum Policy and Review Unit of the Department of Justice. Soon thereafter, his wife was nominated to be an Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior. In January 1988, however, both were informed that they were the subjects of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) inquiry into whether they had illegally given a classified document to a foreign government. Pilon was then placed on administrative leave from the Department, 1 and in April of that year, the Reagan Administration withdrew his wife's nomination. 11 At the close of the nine-month investigation, the F.B.I. declined to recommend that a criminal prosecution be instituted. The Office of Professional Responsibility (O.P.R.) of the Department of Justice then conducted its own inquiry, and ultimately recommended that Pilon be asked to resign or, if he refused, that his appointment be terminated. The Pilons, who for security reasons have never been informed of the evidence underlying the allegations, adamantly denied any wrongdoing. They therefore arranged for their personal attorney (who had a security clearance) to review the evidence underlying the allegations and prepare a rebuttal. After reviewing the rebuttal, the Attorney General ordered that a de novo review of the matter be conducted. 12 That review was completed in the Fall of 1988 as communicated in a letter to Pilon, which stated in full: 13 This is to inform you that the investigations undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Professional Responsibility have now been completed. You will be reinstated as Director of the Office of Asylum Policy and Review as of September 19, 1988. No implication adverse to you should be taken from the investigations. 14 I want to thank you for the outstanding cooperation and patience you have demonstrated during this time. I look forward to your return. 15 Letter from Dee V. Benson, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, to Roger Pilon (Sept. 9, 1988), available in Joint Appendix at 64. Though Pilon was reinstated in full--with his Top Secret security clearance intact--within a month, he elected to leave the Department for a position with a private organization. 16 During this period of time, information to the effect that the Pilons were under investigation apparently was twice leaked to the media: once at the outset of the de novo review, and again after the Pilons were cleared. Neither leak resulted in a published news story.