WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department's prosecutions have changed since 2000 to reflect priorities of the Bush administration, The Washington Post reported.
Statistics seen by the newspaper showed prosecutions for environmental offenses fell 12 percent, organized crime cases were down 38 percent, bankruptcy fraud cases fell 46 percent and bank robbery prosecutions were down by 18 percent.
In contrast, immigration prosecutions were up 36 percent and terrorism and national security cases soared 876 percent, the report said. Official corruption prosecutions also rose 15 percent.
Speaking to the Post, Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr acknowledged the shift, and said such categories as terrorism, illegal gun possession and child exploitation were known key priorities of the Bush administration.
"The department's commitment to all areas of federal prosecution is shown through the president's funding requests to Congress, which have shown steady increases for all department divisions over the past six years," he said.
