KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, released the following statement today:

“In December 2010, the United States Attorney’s Office opened a preliminary inquiry in response to a request that the Kansas City Port Authority - in particular, the Port Authority’s general counsel, William Session - be investigated to determine if violations of federal law had been committed. The preliminary inquiry is now closed. Neither the Kansas City Port Authority nor William Session are targets or subjects in any federal investigation.

“It is the policy of the Department of Justice that we shall not respond to questions about the existence of an investigation. However, due to the substantial publicity received by allegations of a criminal investigation into a matter of public concern, this release of information is in the public's interest.

“This is in accordance with the United States Attorneys Manual, Section 1-7.530, Disclosure of Information Concerning Ongoing Investigations: ‘In matters that have already received substantial publicity, or about which the community needs to be reassured that the appropriate law enforcement agency is investigating the incident, or where release of information is necessary to protect the public interest, safety, or welfare, comments about or confirmation of an ongoing investigation may need to be made.’

“No additional comment will be made regarding this issue.”

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