Despite pleas by a Department of Justice official and two legal scholars to slow down, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Republican is pushing for a quick vote on legislation that would limit federal prosecutors’ ability to pressure cooperation from companies under investigation for corporate fraud.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican and author of legislation that would restrict federal prosecutors’ ability to weigh a company’s willingness to waive attorney-client privilege when deciding to bring charges against the firm, said during a hearing on his bill Tuesday that further delay is unnecessary. The Pennsylvania lawmaker wants the panel to be “in position to come to a judgment to [vote on] the bill and come to a judgment soon … and have it considered by the Senate and the House as well.”
