Welch resigned on April 16, 2012, amid allegations that the DOJ Public Integrity Section had purposefully hid exculpatory evidence in the case against Stevens.
[1] Assistant Attorney General Welch was one of six lawyers investigated between 2009 and 2012 in relation to the botched ethics prosecution of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
After one month, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the DOJ Criminal Division, reinstated Welch, placing him in charge of pursuing national security leaks.
"[1] Harris quotes Steven Aftergood, a noted critic on US Secrecy Policy,[5] as saying, "It seems clear that the Obama Administration misjudged the merits of its case against Drake, pursuing minor infractions with disproportionate zeal.
[citation needed] Welch was reprimanded for failure to remit required discovery evidence in the Stevens case as well as the intelligence leaks prosecutions.