Ex-head of Justice internal affairs dies

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Michael Shaheen Jr., who headed a Justice Department investigation of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, has died in Falls Church, Va., at age 67.

Shaheen suffered from pancreatic cancer, his wife, Polly, told The New York Times. He died Nov. 29 at his home.

A graduate of Yale and Vanderbilt University Law School, Shaheen clerked for a federal judge and practiced law in Como, Miss., where he had grown up, before joining the Justice Department. He served as mayor of Como from 1970 to 1973.

Shaheen became head of the Office of Professional Responsibility when it was started in 1975 and remained there for 22 years. Within a year of his appointment he was investigating allegations that Hoover -- the longtime head of the FBI -- used agency employees to mow his lawn and paint his house. No charges were brought because Hoover had died.

Shaheen also led investigations involving Billy Carter, brother of President Jimmy Carter; Edwin Meese, who served as attorney general under President Ronald Reagan; and FBI Director William Sessions. President Bill Clinton fired Sessions in 1993 after Shaheen showed that Sessions had billed the FBI for private overseas trips.