Lois Battistoni

Lois Battistoni was a former administrative employee of the DOJ Criminal Division. She became a source of allegations for Inslaw regarding the PROMIS Software Scandal.

Bill Hamilton's affidavit attributed information to Battistoni, claiming that an employee of the Criminal Division disclosed to her in 1988 that the company chosen to take over Inslaw's business with the DOJ was connected to one of the top DOJ officials through a California relationship, and that Hadron, Inc., fit this description because both Earl Brian and Edwin Meese served together in Governor Reagan's administration in California. Battistoni also allegedly learned from another Criminal Division employee in July 1989 that the DOJ intended "to bury INSLAW," meaning to cover up what it had done to Inslaw.¹

The Special Counsel's investigation interviewed Battistoni, who admitted she had no first-hand information regarding Inslaw's allegations, and that virtually all the information she provided came from newspaper and journal articles she had saved. She claimed an unnamed DOJ attorney gave her the information about the Hadron connection. She did state that Floyd Bankson, a system engineer in the Criminal Division, told her in 1989 that the DOJ intended to "bury Inslaw." She also indicated that Garnett Taylor and Charles Trombetta had information about the DOJ and Inslaw. The investigation found Battistoni's information to be "extremely suspect" due to her apparent manipulation and misstatement of evidence, and her strong bias against the DOJ. For example, she allegedly altered a letter from the Special Counsel's office to suggest it was being sent to the Attorney General and White House, then gave it to William Hamilton, presumably to undermine the investigation's credibility. She also accused the DOJ of numerous other wrongdoings unrelated to Inslaw, based purely on hearsay and speculation.¹