October 18,2007

Ms. Dana Jill Simpson
P.O. Box. 341
Rainsville, AL 35986

Dear Ms. Simpson:

I write to offer my personal thanks for the cooperation you have voluntarily provided the
Committee on the Judiciary as it investigates serious allegations that political considerations may
have influenced federal criminal prosecutions. In particular, I thank you for agreeing to be
questioned by both majority and minority Committee staff in a sworn, on-the-record interview
last month. The success of the Committee's work depends in great measure on the willingness of citizens to step forward and share information they possess.

I also feel compelled to address the upsetting premature release of the written transcript of
your sworn interview. As you know, all parties to the interview agreed in writing that the
interview would be kept confidential unlil I formally released it to the public after consultation
with your counsel and Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith. Yet, before I authorized the
release, local press in Alabama obtained an apparently leaked copy of the transcript, and used it
to write an article commenting on the interview, and also posted the transcript on the world-wide-web. I appreciate that this sort of selective release was not permitted by the agreement under which you offered your testimony, and I deeply regret that it occurred. While I give you my word that neither I nor any member of my staff were responsible for this improper release, the Committee's agreement with you regarding the terms of release was not honored and, as Chairman of this Committee, I offer you my apologies.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.

cc: Hon. Lamar S, Smith
Priscila Duncan

AP: Conyers Apologizes to Jill Simpson for Release of her Statement to House Judiciary Committee

Download the letter as a PDF file here.