Updated: 11:40 a.m.Nearly four years after it began, the Justice Department closed its investigation into Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), the lawmaker’s office confirmed Tuesday.The long-running Justice Department probe focused on earmarks that the lawmaker made to several West Virginia nonprofit groups run by friends and campaign contributors, some of whom participated in real estate deals with Mollohan.“I can confirm that we have closed the investigation and that no charges have been brought,— said Ben Friedman, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.The investigation closed last week, according to the Justice Department.Mollohan spokesman David Herring confirmed the West Virginian will issue a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) today, informing them that he will resume responsibility for the Justice Department budget as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science. Mollohan had recused himself from those duties when he became the subcommittee chairman in 2007.It is not known whether the House ethics committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, is continuing its own review of Mollohan.According to a confidential ethics document leaked in October, the Justice Department had requested the ethics panel defer its investigation. The ethics committee has never confirmed the authenticity of that leaked document, however, or whether it is investigating Mollohan.