According to sources inside the government -- including in the Justice Department -- Justice acted alone in attaching the privilege log disclosing the names of hundreds of KPMG LLP clients who received tax shelter advice to the summons enforcement action against the accounting firm.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has opened an investigation into the matter. Stuart D. Gibson, the Justice attorney leading the prosecution against KPMG, confirmed that he is under investigation by the OPR for his role in the release of taxpayer names in the filing. Gibson, a Democrat who chairs the county school board in Fairfax, Va., told a local reporter, "I'm confident that when the investigation is completed, I will be absolved of all wrongdoing."

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Amy Hamilton's article appears in the August 21 issue of TAX NOTES magazine, a weekly magazine covering federal, state, and international tax issues.