Federal Prosecutor Pulled Off Cases After Online Postings

The Department of Justice is investigating what the next step should be for a federal prosecutor who admitted posting comments online about cases involving his office. U.S. Attorney Jim Letten says the prosecutor has been removed from all matters discussed online.

Letten says Assistant U.S. Attorney Salvador Perricone told him earlier this week that he had been posting comments on the Nola.com website under the name Henry L Mencken1951 – a reference to early 20th-century journalist H.L. Mencken. Perricone’s comments surfaced after an embattled landfill owner asked a state court to question Perricone about the postings. Comments included negative remarks about Letten, President Obama and a federal judge in New Orleans. The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility will decide any punishment.