WASHINGTON - Under indictment on an obstruction of justice charge, Arthur Andersen LLP said Thursday it is engaged in talks with the Justice Department, an acknowledgment that comes amid stepped-up pressure by federal prosecutors.<br>
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The accounting firm's former top auditor on the Enron account, David Duncan, pleaded guilty Tuesday to ordering the shredding of Enron-related documents and agreed to cooperate with the government's probe.<br>
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Duncan's plea undermines Andersen's legal position that no one at the firm engaged in intentional wrongdoing.<br>
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Andersen spokesman Patrick Dorton said, "We are in discussions with the Department of Justice." Dorton declined to elaborate and Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra declined to comment.<br>
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The current discussions began last Friday at the request of lawyers representing Andersen.<br>
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A federal grand jury in Houston indicted Andersen on March 7 on a single count of obstructing justice, accusing the firm of destroying "tons of paper" at offices in the United States and London and deleting enormous numbers of computer files on its audits of Enron. The indictment was unsealed March 14.<br>
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