-> OIP

Seal of the United States Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
Washington, D.C.

MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS
AND UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS
FROM: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Signature of the Attorney General
SUBJECT:

Communications with the White House

DATE:

December 19, 2007
Last year, the Attorney General issued a memorandum outlining procedures that govern
communic~tiOl~~ between the Department of Justice and the White House. I am issuing this
memC1randuhl to update those procedures and to ensure that everyone is aware of the rules and of
their importance.
On many subjects, the \X/hite House and the Department must be able to communicate
freely in order to carry out efficiently the Administration's policies and programs. Therefore, all
communications between the Department and the White House that concern policy, legislation,
budgeting, political appointments, personnel matters related to political appointees, public
affairs, informal legal opinions, intergovernmental relations, administrative matters, or similar
matters may be handled directly by the parties concerned. Such communications should take
place, however, with the knowledge of the Department's lead contact regarding the subject under
discussion.
Similarly, well-established procedures exist for communications with certain
components. For example, all requests for formal legal opinions from the Department of Justice
shall come from the Counsel to the President or Deputy Counsel to the President and be directed
to the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General for OLC. Additionally, the Office of
the Pardon Attorney may communicate directly with the Counsel to the President and the Deputy
Counsel to the President concerning Presidential clemency matters.
Communications with respect to pending criminal or civil-enforcement matters, however,
must be limited. Therefore, the Department will advise the White House about such cri:ninal or
civil-enforcement matters only where it is important for the performance of the President's duties
and where appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. This limitation recognizes the
President's ability to perform his constitutional obligation to "take care that the laws be faithfully
For purposes of this policy, department personnel should consider the "White House" to include the White House
Office, the components within the Executive Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President.

Page 1 of 2

00l/002

 12/19/2007 15:51 FAX

->

OIP

executed" while ensuring that there is public confidence that the laws of the United States are
administered and enforced in an impartial manner. Therefore, all components of the Department,
including federal law enforcement agencies and the United States Attorneys' Offices, ~:hall abide
by the following limitations:
With the exception of national security related matters, 'which are
discussed below. all initial communications between the White House
staff and the Justice Department regarding any specific pending
Department investigation or criminal or civil-enforcement matter should
involve only the Counsel to the President or Deputy Counsel to the
President and the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General. Initial
communications regarding civil-enforcement matters may also involve the
Associate Attorney General. Initial communications regarding a matter on
appeal may also involve the Solicitor General.
To the extent subsequent contact is required or necessary, the Attorney
General, Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, or
Solicitor General may designate others within the Department to
communicate with the White House staff. In all such circumstances, this
designation \vill be limited to the fewest number of people practicable.
It is critically important to have frequent and expeditious communications
relating to national security matters, including counter-terrorism and
counter-espionage issues. Since September 2001, departments within the
Executive Branch have made substantial efforts to remove barriers to
information sharing and communication. Communications that relate to a
national security matter and concern a litigation issue for a specific,
pending case are not subject to the limitations delineated above so as not
to reestablish those barriers or limit necessary communication.
Nevertheless, such communications must be made known to the Office of
the Attorney General, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General or the
Office of the Associate Attorney General so that senior officials can
monitor the communications and consider whether any additional
limitations or safeguards are necessary.

Page 2 of 2

002/002