Welch gives up Justice Department post

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- William M. Welch II will leave his position as head of the public integrity unit in the U.S. Justice Department next week, officials said.

Welch's decision to leave follows the departure of other lawyers connected to Attorney General Eric Holder's decision not to pursue the corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, which Holder said was hampered by the prosecution team's inadequate evidence-sharing, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Welch, who supervised the Stevens case but had a small role in the trial last year, is the subject of a Justice Department internal ethics investigation and a criminal investigation initiated by U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who presided over the Stevens trial, the newspaper said.

An anonymous Justice Department official said Raymond N. Hulser will serve as the unit's acting head, and that the department will conduct a nationwide search to fill the position. The need is considered urgent, as public integrity unit prosecutors are conducting sensitive investigations into Capitol Hill earmarks, the Post said.

Welch has been chief of the public integrity unit since March 2007.