By Steve Neavling
Donald Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, has formally recused himself from an investigation into a lawyer who has ties to his family.
Alway’s recusal comes several days after The Los Angeles Times revealed his ties to Tom Girardi, a disgraced lawyer who is accused of misappropriating his clients’ settlement money to enrich himself.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the recusal on Saturday.
In a statement, Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the field office, said Alway “requested recusal and has not and will not be involved in this or any related FBI matter.”
Eimiller added that the Girardi investigation “largely predates (Alway’s) time in the Los Angeles Division.” Girardi began his current role on Aug. 29.
Alway’s mother, Michelle Alway, was Girardi’s former girlfriend and secretary. During the 1990s, she received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Girardi and his law firm, court records states.
Girardi also contributed more than $131,000 towards the mortgage of her home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, which Donald Alway co-owns, records show. The property is now worth more than $1.2 million.
