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40 - EVENTS/INTELLIGENCE_SCANDALS/PROMIS Software Scandal.md
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@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ tags:
- DoJ
- Software
- OctoberSurprise
summary: "The INSLAW Affair was a protracted legal and political scandal arising from allegations that the U.S. Department of Justice stole the PROMIS case management software from its developer, drove the company into bankruptcy, and distributed the software internationally, with intelligence agencies reportedly embedding a surveillance backdoor."
summary: "The INSLAW Affair was a legal and political scandal over allegations that the U.S. Department of Justice stole the PROMIS case management software from its developer and distributed it internationally with a surveillance backdoor."
start: 1982-03-01
end: 1998-08-31
location: "Washington, D.C."
@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Bason's non-reappointment in 1988, when his four-year term expired after he soug
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) examined the INSLAW matter in 1989 and found "no proof" that [[Lowell Jensen]] and [[Edwin Meese]] had conspired to ruin INSLAW or steal its product, and "no proof of any connection between [[Earl Brian]] or [[Hadron]] and the Department with regard to the INSLAW contract." The Senate report did find, however, that DOJ official Thomas Stanton had "improperly tried to get special handling for Inslaw's bankruptcy" and criticized the Department for placing Brewer, a former INSLAW employee, in charge of the implementation contract.[^3]
The [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], chaired by Representative [[Jack Brooks]], conducted a three-year investigation from 1989 to 1992. Its September 10, 1992 report (House Report 102-857) reached substantially more damaging conclusions. The committee found "strong evidence...that the Department of Justice 'acted willfully and fraudulently,' and 'took, converted and stole,' Inslaw's Enhanced PROMIS by 'trickery fraud and deceit.'"[^1] The report cited an admission from Deputy Attorney General [[Arnold Burns]], who told DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility investigators in 1986 that INSLAW's proprietary rights claim was "legitimate" and that the government "would probably lose the case in court on this issue" - yet DOJ continued litigating against INSLAW.[^1]
The [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], chaired by Representative [[Jack Brooks]], conducted a three-year investigation from 1989 to 1992. Its September 10, 1992 report (House Report 102-857) reached substantially more damaging conclusions. The committee found "strong evidence...that the Department of Justice 'acted willfully and fraudulently,' and 'took, converted and stole,' Inslaw's Enhanced PROMIS by 'trickery fraud and deceit.'"[^1] The report cited an admission from Deputy Attorney General [[Arnold Burns]], who told [[Office of Professional Responsibility|DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility]] investigators in 1986 that INSLAW's proprietary rights claim was "legitimate" and that the government "would probably lose the case in court on this issue" - yet DOJ continued litigating against INSLAW.[^1]
The House Committee specifically examined the roles of Lowell Jensen and Edwin Meese in the affair. Jensen had developed DALITE (District Attorney's Automated Legal Information System), a competing case management software, while serving as Alameda County District Attorney; he was a member of the contract oversight committee at INSLAW's inception and later became Associate Attorney General and then Deputy Attorney General under Meese. The Committee found it "incredible that the Department, having made this determination [that INSLAW's proprietary rights claim was legitimate], would continue to pursue its litigation."[^1] Meese had served alongside Earl Brian in Governor [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan's]] California cabinet; Meese's wife purchased stock in a Brian-controlled company; Meese reportedly recused himself from PROMIS matters upon becoming Attorney General in February 1985, leaving Jensen to handle the issue.[^4]