US Attorney Denies Interrogating US Marshal about Leak to the Mob

The U.S. Attorney in Chicago has denied in grand jury proceedings he interrogated a U.S. Marshal suspected of leaking information to the mob.

Patrick Fitzgerald said he summoned federal Marshal John Ambrose to FBI offices in September 2006 for "a conversation," and not an interrogation, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

Ambrose is suspected of leaking information to a mob star witness in another trial he was assigned to protect.

On Tuesday, Ambrose said while meeting with Fitzgerald he was closely guarded by FBI agents, including when he went to the washroom, and was never read his Miranda rights, the Chicago Sun-Times said.

Fitzgerald in turn said Ambrose was agitated, and the agents only accompanied him to the washroom because "I did not want to see him kill himself."

The hearing is set to resume Jan. 3 with further cross-examination of Fitzgerald, the report said.