Us Attorney Resigns During Probe Of Online Posts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — U.S. Attorney Jim Letten is resigning while the Justice Department investigates alleged misconduct by two of the top deputies in his New Orleans office.

The nation's longest-serving U.S. attorney announced his resignation Thursday at a news conference.

Two prosecutors who served as supervisors under Letten are targets of the investigation.

One is Sal Perricone. He resigned in March after acknowledging he criticized judges and politicians and commented on cases in anonymous posts on a local newspaper's website.

Then Letten demoted his top assistant, Jan Mann, last month after she admitted posting several anonymous comments on the same site.

Letten rose to fame by winning the racketeering conviction of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. He has served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana since 2001.