Senator Grassley questions Justice Department over 'serial viewer of porn'

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned Thursday why the Department of Justice did not take action against "an admitted serial viewer of pornography" who served as an Assistant United States Attorney even after the department’s Inspector General found at least one image of child pornography on the attorney’s work computer.

Grassley, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter (PDF) to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking why the Assistant Attorney had not been charged with a crime and why the case for disciplinary action was still "pending" as of May 31.

The letter, dated July 7, cites a report from the DOJ Office of Inspector General.

"This report contained what appears to be an inexcusable mishandling of serious allegations against an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) which calls into question the DOJ’s internal controls and prosecutorial discretion," he wrote.

Grassley questioned how the individual able to evade the DOJ’s pornography filters and if the DOJ made efforts to upgrade its pornography filters because of the incident.

He also asked if the Assistant United States Attorney was ever assigned to handle cases that involved any interaction with children.

Grassley said he received the report after he and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) requested semiannual reports on closed investigations and audits that were not disclosed to the public.