Jim Wyss reports that the DOJ won’t release names of Ecuador officials implicated in Odebrecht case, despite Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s repeated requests:
The U.S. Department of Justice will not provide U.S. lawmakers with the names of Ecuadorian officials who might have been implicated in the sweeping Odebrecht corruption case — as long as the investigation is active.
In a statement Thursday, Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the DOJ had denied her Jan. 6 request to make the names public, citing the department’s policy of not discussing “ongoing investigation[s]” or publicly naming “unindicted co-conspirators.”
The request is politically charged, as the South American nation heads into a tight April 2 presidential runoff that will determine the successor of President Rafael Correa and where corruption allegations have taken center stage.
Ecuador’s Attorney General Galo Chiriboga has been tweeting about all the cooperation on the Odebrecht case, including his February 4 meeting with Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz under the Obama administration,
En Washington, nos reunimos con Bruce Swartz, fiscal General adjunto de #EEUU para referirnos al #CasoOdebrecht
— Galo Chiriboga (@Galo_Chiriboga) February 4, 2017
when they signed a cooperation agreement,
Como @FiscaliaEcuador, logramos un acuerdo de colaboración con el Departamento de Justicia de #EEUU #CasoOdebrecht
— Galo Chiriboga (@Galo_Chiriboga) February 4, 2017
Chiriboga tweeted that Swartz did not release names,
El Fiscal General adjunto de #EEUU no entregó a @FiscaliaEcuador nombres sobre #CasoOdebrecht porque señaló que es información reservada
— Galo Chiriboga (@Galo_Chiriboga) February 4, 2017
Rafael Correa doesn’t want to disclose,
In Ecuador, authorities have not provided names about who might be involved. But Correa has said the case was being manipulated by U.S. authorities to try to skew the election, where his hand-picked successor, Lenín Moreno, is running in a tight race against former banker Guillermo Lasso.
UPDATE
Trending at Bad Blue.
Names should be given shame on DOJ of the US for withholding those names