NationalJournal.com
Friday, October 9, 2009 2:21 PM
Grand Jury Probing Former Secretary Norton
By Peter H. StoneA federal grand jury in Washington that is probing possible criminal conflicts of interest involving former Interior Secretary Gale Norton’s official and private dealings in 2006 with Royal Dutch Shell has recently issued subpoenas to both Norton and Shell, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.
The grand jury subpoenas are part of a criminal investigation launched earlier this year by the Public Integrity Section at Justice into whether Norton may have broken a federal law in 2006 when the Interior Department granted three lucrative oil shale leases on federal lands in Colorado to Shell which later in the year hired her as general counsel for its unconventional fuels unit in the United States. The Colorado based unit focuses on exploration and production, including shale projects.