Two US representatives have asked federal prosecutors to answer a series of questions about the prosecution of Aaron Swartz. In a letter yesterday to US Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) ask why prosecutors sought up to 50 years in prison and $1 million in fines for Swartz, who committed suicide prior to his trial.

Issa and Cummings, chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, requested a briefing by Feb. 4 to answer the following questions:

What factors influenced the decision to prosecute Mr. Swartz for the crimes alleged in the indictment, including the decisions regarding what crimes to charge and the filing of the superseding indictment? Was Mr. Swartz's opposition to SOPA or his association with any advocacy groups considered? What specific plea offers were made to Mr. Swartz, and what factors influenced the decisions by prosecutors regarding plea offers made to Mr. Swartz? How did the criminal charges, penalties sought, and plea offers in this case compare to those of other cases that have been prosecuted or considered for prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? Did the federal investigation of Mr. Swartz reveal evidence that he had committed other hacking violations? What factors influenced the Department's decisions regarding sentencing proposals? Why was a superseding indictment necessary?

Swartz was arrested in 2011 for downloading 4.8 million documents from the academic archive JSTOR. With many calling his prosecution excessive, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced "Aaron's Law" to limit the reach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The letter from Issa and Cummings (PDF courtesy of CNET) notes that "Many questions have been raised about the appropriate level of punishment sought by prosecutors for Mr. Swartz's alleged offenses, and how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, cited in 11 of 13 counts against Mr. Swartz, should apply under similar circumstances."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also asked Holder for answers about the prosecution a couple weeks ago. Carmen Ortiz, the Massachusetts US attorney whose office was prosecuting Aaron Swartz, recently defended her actions in the case, noting that a plea bargain would have resulted in six months of prison time.