McCallum Questioned About Tobacco Case (Colleague accuses DoJ official)

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Justice Department official who slashed the amount of money being sought from tobacco companies made misleading statements to Congress, says a former government lawyer who handled a landmark lawsuit against the industry.

The comments by attorney Sharon Eubanks follow Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum's decision a year ago to downsize a proposed smoking cessation program from $130 billion to $10 billion. That's the amount the government wants a judge to order cigarette companies to pay.

A month ago, McCallum sent written statements explaining his actions to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was considering his nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Australia. The Senate subsequently confirmed McCallum, a former Yale classmate of President Bush, to the post.
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Internal Justice Department e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show that the White House OK'd an op-ed piece by McCallum in USA Today defending the department's drastic cut in the amount it was demanding the tobacco companies pay.

http://www.startribune.com/484/story/563484.html