Atty. Gen. Holder/doj file photo

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has told House leaders that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s decision to withhold certain documents about a flawed gun operation from Congress is not a crime and he will not be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole explained the decision, which was expected, in a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). The letter was released publicly Friday, just over a week after President Obama invoked executive privilege to withhold the documents.

In May 1984, Theodore B. Olson, then assistant attorney general, wrote that U.S. attorneys are not required to refer congressional contempt charges to a grand jury or prosecute an executive branch official “who carries out the President’s instruction to invoke the President’s claim of executive privilege before a committee.”

To read more click here.

By Steve Neavling

An FBI agent executing a search warrant in an Ohio home shot and killed a man after he lunged at the agent with a knife, the Dayton Daily News reports.

Several hours into the search, Fallacy Myers grabbed a knife and started stabbing himself. When authorities tried subduing him with a Taser, the Dayton man tried to stab the agent, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Myers was under investigation for money laundering and child exploitation.

Steve Neavling

An ex-stripper and her roommate were charged this week with trying to extort money from Golden State Warriors Coach Mark Jackson by threatening to release nude photos of the married former NBA star, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The stripper’s roommate, Marcus Shaw, threatened to reveal the photos unless Adams coughed up, among other things, money “to fix his teeth and to get his car out of the impound lot,” the Chronicle reported.

After Shaw approached Jackson’s wife, the couple called authorities. A federal affidavit said the FBI monitored communication between both parties and confirmed the extortion attempt.

A college professor who helped the FBI investigate mortgage fraud cases was indicted Thursday for running a similar scam, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Paul Tomko, an adjunct professor Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio, faces eight counts of fraud and conspiracy and making false statements to his probation officer.

Tomko, 39, told the Plain Dealer he is innocent.

“I have no idea what they’re talking about,” he said. “We certainly plan to fight this.”

In 2007 and 2008, the FBI paid Tomko $27,000 to help agents in mortgage fraud investigations.

Steve Neavling

A Santa Fe Springs Councilman accepted $11,500 in bribes from a marijuana dispensary owner who was working as an FBI informant, according to a plea agreement released Thursday, the L.A. Times reports.

In the latest example of corruption in a Los Angeles County town, the case against Councilman Joseph Serrano Sr. alleges he sought monthly payments of up to $1,6000 in exchange for helping the pot shop survive bureaucratic threats.

Court records say Serrano was desperate to make his mortgage payments.

Under the plea agreement, Serrano will plead guilty to one felony count of bribery.

STORIES OF OTHER INTEREST

• FBI Dedicates New FBI Center to Fallen Agent
• Drug Conspiracy Ring Probed in Pennsylvania 
• Gov. Martinez Asks FBI to Investigate Source of Email Leaks
• Boy Sought By Feds Over Sex Allegations Is Found
• Madoff’s Brother to Plead Guilty in Fraud Case
• Feds Hope to Speed Up Immigration Court Backlog

Steve Neavling

No one knows what Ford Cummings was thinking when he walked into a Texas jail, posing as a DEA agent who needed the release of an inmate.

The 32-year-old with a gun tucked into his belt and no ID raised some eyebrows, the Houston Press reports.

Cummings was charged with third-degree count of carrying a prohibited weapon and a count of impersonating a public servant.

When Congress voted Thursday  to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, he became yet another attorney general entangled in a distracting crisis that is threatening his leadership, the New York Times reports.

The U.S. House threatened to hold the last Republican attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey, in contempt for withholding Justice Department documents.

His predecessor, Alberto Gonzales, resigned under pressure after the mass firings of federal prosecutors.  Before him, Attorney General John Ashcroft came under fire on accusations that he dismissed terrorism warnings prior to Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Times reported.

Rewind to Janet Reno, the attorney general who served under President Bill Clinton. She caught heavy criticism for refusing to appoint a special prosecutor to probe Democratic fundraising and was threatened with contempt by the Republican-led House oversight committee.

“It’s hard to think of a recent attorney general who’s had smooth sailing,” Dan Marcus, a law professor at American University who served as a senior Justice Department official during Ms. Reno’s battles, told the New York Times.