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Prosecutors just can’t get a break when it comes to ethical mistakes, says Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

Speaking at the National District Attorneys Association Summer Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, Breuer touted the Justice Department’s commitment to ethics and chewed out defense lawyers for turning “honest mistakes” on the part of prosecutors into examples of misconduct.

“This kind of gamesmanship is unfortunate,” he said, according to prepared remarks. “The steps we’ve taken go further than what the Supreme Court requires. And they go well beyond what any prior administration has done.”

The speech itself covered a lot of ground – from efforts to combat drug cartel-related violence along the Southwest border to headway on violent crime.

But Breuer reserved time at the end for addressing ethical criticism of the department. He didn’t cite specific cases, but the past two years provide several cases of disclosure foul-ups and ethical breaches that both defense lawyers and the media don’t seem willing to let the DOJ forget.

Two years ago marked the infamous implosion of the public corruption cases against Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, whose conviction was thrown out over mistakes made by prosecutors that included withholding evidence from defense counsel.

After that fiasco, the department said it added training and provided more ethical guidance to prosecutors – particularly for discovery and when disclosing information.

Then there’s the recently botched perjury prosecution of Roger Clemens, which fell apart this month when prosecutors tried twice to introduce inadmissible evidence. Prosecutors say the case-killing actions were mistakes.

In fact, Breuer represented Clemens during the 2008 appearance before Congress that led to perjury charges. But Breuer didn’t mention the baseball star in his remarks.

“I think prosecutors are more aware of their ethical obligations today than they may ever have been – and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing,” he said.

And just because mistakes have been made in the past doesn’t mean prosecutors will shy away from difficult cases in the future, he said, even when “an opportunistic defense lawyer will try to make hay out of an honest mistake.”

“The Justice Department has taken a series of far reaching steps in the past two years to ensure that all federal prosecutors consistently meet their disclosure obligations,” Breuer said. “And I think it’s fair to say that, as a department, we are in a better place today than we were two-and-a-half years ago.”