I believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the President.
At D.O.J., we don't want to go after the corporate wrongdoers simply as an end unto itself; we want to decrease the amount of corporate wrongdoing that happens in the first place. We want to restore and help protect the corporate culture of responsibility.
Holding individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing isn't ideological; it's good law enforcement.
At the Department of Justice, our ability to fulfill our responsibilities - to advocate for victims, to vigorously pursue misconduct, to seek justice in all its forms - depends on public confidence in the institutions we represent.
At the risk of sounding really corny now, I'm a career prosecutor. I've been doing this for a very long time. And I believe in holding people responsible when they violate the law. But our sole responsibility is to seek justice. And sometimes that means a very lengthy sentence for people who are dangerous and from which society must be protected.
At the Justice Department, we have no greater obligation than ensuring all people are treated equally under the law, and Americans must know that we will vigorously pursue criminal activity regardless of whether the crime is committed on a street corner or in a corner office.
