All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Stephanie Lambidakis is a CBS News producer based in Washington.

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputy Paul McNulty held a party today to celebrate the accomplishments of the Corporate Fraud Task Force -- which in the five years since its creation, has racked up an impressive record: 1,236 fraud convictions including guilty verdicts and stiff prison terms for 214 CEOs. For several years, it seemed like one continuous perp walk. There was the parade of Enron execs in handcuffs, Martha Stewart with a $10,000 Hermes purse on her courthouse arm, and "telecom Cowboy" Bernie Ebbers, whose 11-Billion dollar fraud at WorldCom left pensioners penniless.

While there is no let-up in the corporate fraud crackdown, there was an unmistakable air of back-patting in the stately Great Hall today. Gonzales presented the head of the Corporate Fraud Task Force, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, with an actual medal. Then there was a reception, which by the brown-bag standards of the federal workforce, seemed downright lavish. This was a fully-catered affair with waiters in black tie and chafing dishes filled with giant shrimp, smoked salmon in puff pastry, and scallops wrapped in bacon. The staple of Justice Department functions, the pink punch was replaced by elegant glasses of iced tea and refreshing lemonade.

It was the kind of event that a Bernie Ebbers or Martha Stewart would instantly feel at home attending. McNulty's office spent several thousand dollars on the reception -- this in addition to the costs incurred with flying United States Attorneys to Washington to bask in the glow of the five year anniversary. This comes at a time when US Attorneys all across the country are begging for more resources and are being told money is too tight. Sure, this wasn't a $2-million dollar toga party thrown by now-imprisoned Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski, but in a department that has cracked down on corporate excess, the sight of officials holding china piled high with hors d'oeuvres during the middle of a workday seemed excessive in its own way.

Stephanie Lambidakis is a CBS News producer based in Washington.

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Even though the controversy over the firings of the U.S. Attorneys has cooled, senior Justice Department officials are still bailing out.

Richard Hertling, the Acting chief of the Office of Legislative Affairs, has been responsible for communicating with lawmakers about the investigation and sending the thousands of pages of documents to the Hill. Hertling leaves the Department this Friday to work for Fred Thompson's as-yet unofficial presidential campaign. Hertling's an investigations' veteran going back to his days as deputy spokesman for Thompson during the probe of the Clinton administration's fundraising practices.

Just last week Rachel Brand, a senior policy advisor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, announced her departure. Brand's name surfaced in emails because Gonzales gauged her interest in being the US Attorney in Michigan where Margaret Chiara was getting the axe. No reason was given, but Brand will soon give birth to her first child.

The most-talked-about departure these days, however, involves someone whose name will never surface in a controversial email. Her name is Eloise Parker, and for 30 years until her retirement last week, Mrs. Parker, as she is called, ran the department's store, a kind of mini 7-11 that dispensed snacks and sundries and department memorabilia. During her going-out-of-business sale, the first items to go were the tee-shirts and sweatpants and golf towels bearing the US Attorney logo.

Stephanie Lambidakis is a CBS News producer based in Washington. She's been tracking the Libby case for the last four years, and was at the courthouse today for the sentencing.

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The case that started with a major bang -- the indictment of one of the most powerful people in government -- ended with almost a whimper from the defendant himself.

As he stood before Judge Reggie Walton and looked up at the bench, Libby spoke in a soft voice and uttered just a few sentences, pleading with Walton to spare him prison time in part beause of his "whole life" of devoted government service. Ted Wells delivered a memorable line that no one in Libby-land will ever dispute: Scooter Libby "has fallen from public grace and it is a tragic fall, a tragic fall."

The somber mood inside the courtroom permeated the courthouse itself, even among the bloggers who maintained a lively running commentary throughout the trial.

The appeals will follow, but Scooter Libby's next stop is federal prison to begin serving his two-and-a-half year sentence.