Appointments that have been Nominated, but not approved by Senate:

IOWA, NORTHERN - District Court 8th circuit - Matt M. Dummermuth (Identified by McClatchy as having close Bush administration ties)
Interim - Sworn in as interim January 30^th, 2007. Senator Grassley has recommended him to the president.
Replaces - Charles Larson Sr., who retired Dec. 31^st, 2006.

Background

Sioux City Journal CEDAR RAPIDS -- Matt M. Dummermuth took the U.S. attorney's oath of office in front of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade Tuesday afternoon in Cedar Rapids.

Dummermuth will succeed Charles W. Larson Sr., who retired Dec. 31, and will serve on an interim basis until a U.S. attorney is nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S.Senate.

Dummermuth has served as a counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights since April 2006. Prior to that, he served as a special assistant.

Appointments that were named without benefit of Senate approval:

ALASKA - District Court 9th circuit - Nelson P. Cohen
Appointed - August 22^nd, 2006 without benefit of Senate approval
Replaces - Tim Burgess resigned in 2005 and Deborah Smith served under the Vacancy Reform Act until her appointment expired.

Background

Tim Burgess was the last Presidentially nominated US Attorney for Alaska; when he resigned, Deborah Smith filled in as Acting US Attorney for the maximum 210 days allowed under the Vacancy Reform Act. Her appointment was due to expire at the time Cohen was appointed.

ARKANSAS, EASTERN - District Court 8th circuit - Tim Griffin (Identified by McClatchy as having close Bush administration ties)
Appointed - December 15^th, 2006 without benefit of Senate approval
Replaces - H.E. Bud Cummins resigned December 16^th, 2006 - Gonzales 7

Background

From the Wall Street Journal, we have:

The departure that started the uproar is that of Bud Cummins in Little Rock, Ark., whose replacement, Timothy Griffin, is a former political official in the Bush White House and the Republican National Committee. Mr. Cummins, in an interview, said a top Justice official asked for his resignation in June, saying the White House wanted to give another person the opportunity to serve.

(hat tip to Josh Marshall):

A quick perusal of Griffin's resume shows that his more-or-less exclusive vocation has been doing opposition research on Democrats on behalf of the Republican Party. Until recently, he was head of oppo research at the White House, working directly for Karl Rove. In 1999 and 2000, he was deputy research director for the Republican National Committee. In 2002 he returned as research director for the national GOP and stayed on for the next three years.

Before getting involved formally in oppo research he worked in what you might call de facto oppo research positions. In 1995 and 1996 he was associate independent counsel in the Henry Cisneros investigation. And after that he headed up to the Hill to work for Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) investigating political contributions from Asian-Americans to Bill Clinton.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, according to Time, back in 2000, when he was in charge of digging up dirt on Al Gore, he apparently had a poster hanging on the wall behind his desk which read: "On my command -- unleash hell on Al."

Appointments that are either interim or acting:

ARIZONA - District Court 9th circuit - Daniel G. Knauss
Interim - Appointed January 31^st, 2007 - Mr. Knauss will serve on an interim basis until a replacement is nominated and approved. Republican Senators Kyl and McCain had recommended Diane Humetewa, but was not nominated for that position, and Mr. Knauss was appointed Interim U.S. Attorney.
Replaces - Paul Charlton, resigned January 31^st, 2007 - Gonzales 7

Background

According the US Department of Justice website:

US Attorney Paul K. Charlton was a career prosecutor who has committed himself to public service. Prior to his presidential appointment he worked since 1991 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Arizona where he prosecuted extensive criminal cases ranging from homicide to white collar offenses. Prior to his appointment as United States Attorney he was assigned to the Organized Criminal Drug Enforcement Task Force. His depth of prosecution experience, coupled with his ability to speak Spanish, was noticed by his superiors at the Department of Justice in Washington. As a result he was selected to become an instructor on a number of Department of Justice courses offered in Spanish to prosecutors in Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela and Chile. His professional achievements have earned him many awards including "Prosecutor of the Year" from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

Mr. Charlton is still the featured Attorney on the website, but according to a press release on Jan. 31^st, 2007, Daniel Knauss will be replacing him.

Mr. Knauss has served as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office since 1972. Over the years, he has held a variety of senior leadership positions, including: Chief of the Criminal Section (1974 - 1981), First Assistant United States Attorney (1980 - 1985), Chief Assistant United States Attorney (1985 - 1992); Interim United States Attorney (May - July 1992); First Assistant United States Attorney (1992 - 1997), and Chief Assistant United States Attorney (2005 - present). In these roles, Mr. Knauss has overseen daily operations and supervised the criminal and civil litigation handled by the District of Arizona.

CALIFORNIA, CENTRAL - District Court 9th circuit - George S. Cardona
Acting - appointed November 20^th, 2006.

"I became acting U.S. attorney under the Vacancy Reform Act when no one else was appointed. The act says the chief assistant is to serve as acting if the U.S. attorney position is vacant," Cardona said.

Replaces - Debra Wong Yang who resigned October 21^st, 2006

Background

Debra Wong Yang was appointed in May 2002 by President George W. Bush.

After becoming United States Attorney, Ms. Yang was selected to serve on President Bush's Corporate Fraud Task Force and to chair the Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Civil Rights. She was appointed by the Attorney General to sit on the Attorney General's Advisory Committee and on the Intellectual Property Task Force. She also serves on the Ninth Circuit Jury Reform Committee.

Prior to being appointed United States Attorney, Ms. Yang was a California state judge. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1997 and became a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2000. As a judge, Ms. Yang acted as the Supervising Judge for the Hollywood Courthouse. She sat on the Criminal Law Advisory Committee and the Subcommittee on the Quality of Judicial Service for the Court's Judicial Council.

Debra Wong Yang is still the featured US Attorney on the US DOJ website, however the US Attorney listing names George Cardona as her replacement.

According to UCLA Law bio for George Cardona:

Professor Cardona was notes and topics editor for the Yale Law and Policy Review. He then clerked for Dolores K. Sloviter of the Third Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. From 1987 to 1989, he worked as an associate in the Tax Work Group of Irell & Manella in Los Angeles; and from 1989 through 1991, he worked as a Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. For the next seven years he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, first in the Central District of California as, for a time, Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds section, then in 1998 in the Northern District of California as Chief of the Appeals Section, and later returning again to the Central District as Chief of the Criminal Division. For exceptional work, he received the Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - District Court DC - Jeffrey A. Taylor (Identified by McClatchy as having close Bush administration ties)
Interim - sworn in September 29^th, 2006
Replaces - Ken Wainstein who resigned September 28^th, 2006

Background

Jeffrey A. Taylor was appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on September 22^nd, 2006. He was sworn in and took office on September 29^th, 2006.

From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Taylor served as Counselor to Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Gonzales, where he handled a broad array of matters, including oversight of the Department's national security, terrorism, and criminal litigation and policy, as well as the operations of the Department's law enforcement components.

Mr. Taylor served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1995-1999, where he prosecuted a variety of criminal matters, including international drug trafficking organizations. From 1999-2002, Mr. Taylor served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate's committee on the Judiciary, working on issues including criminal law, terrorism, and national security.

Jeffrey Taylor replaces Ken Wainstein, who left the post on September 28^th, 2006 to take a new position as the first Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

Mr. Wainstein was confirmed on October 7^th, 2005 to be the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He served as the Interim United States Attorney prior to his confirmation. Prior to his appointment as Interim United States Attorney in May of 2004, Mr. Wainstein served at FBI Headquarters. He was Chief of Staff to Director Robert S. Mueller, III, from March 2003 to May 2004 and General Counsel of the FBI from July 2002 to March 2003. From August 2001 to July 2002, he served as Director of the Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, where he provided oversight and support to the 94 United States Attorneys' Offices around the country. Ken was the Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia between April and August of 2001.

ILLINOIS, SOUTHERN - District Court 7th circuit - Randy G. Massey
Acting - (First Assistant U.S. Attorney) as of March 21^st, 2006.
Replaces - Interim U.S. Attorney Edward McNally's 120 day term expired on March 20^th, 2006. The last presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney Ronald J. Tenpas left November 21^st, 2005 to take the job of associate deputy U.S. attorney general in Washington, D.C.

Background

MAINE - District Court 1st - Paula D. Silsby
Acting/Interim? - 2001 - Silsby is currently (as of February 2007) listed as the U.S. Attorney in the Maine District. The DOJ website does not designate Silsby as a "Presidentially Appointed United States Attorney"
Replaces - Jay McCloskey, Clinton appointee, announced in January 2001 he would be leaving office.
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe recommended Silsby to the president for nomination on March 30^th, 2001.

Background

MISSOURI, WESTERN - District Court 8th circuit - Bradley J. Schlozman
Acting/Interim? - Appointed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on March 24^th, 2006.
Replaces - Todd Graves who resigned March 10^th, 2006

Background

As McClatchy News noted January 26, recent appointees have had closer ties to the administration than the local jurisdictions where they will serve. Schlozman was no different.

A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Mr. Schlozman served a two-year federal judicial clerkship with Chief U.S. District Judge G. Thomas VanBebber of the District of Kansas. He then spent a year clerking for U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Beck Briscoe of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In 1999, Mr. Schlozman moved to Washington, where he joined the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Practice at Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White, LLP, before moving on to the Department of Justice in November 2001.

Additional Notes -
John Wood (Identified by McClatchy as having close Bush Administration ties) to the Missouri Western District was announced on January 17^th, 2007 and if confirmed by the Senate, he will take Schlozman's place. McClatchy reports:

John Wood, the husband of assistant secretary of homeland security Julie Myers and an ex-deputy general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, U.S. attorney in Kansas City.

NEBRASKA - District Court 8th circuit - Joe W. Stecher
Interim - Appointed September 29^th, 2006.
Replaces - Michael G. Heavican who resigned October 2^nd, 2006. He was sworn in as the chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court 10/2/2006.

December 15th, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has recommended to President Bush that Joe Stecher be nominated for the position of United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska. Stecher currently serves as the acting United States Attorney for Nebraska.

Background

PUERTO RICO Puerto Rico - Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez
Acting/Interim? since June 2006 - first mention of Rodriquez-Velez as U.S. Attorney (July 19^th, 2006).

Nominated by President Bush on January 16^th, 2007
Replaces - H. S. Garcia

Background

November 19, 2002 - President George W. Bush nominated Humberto S. Garcia of Puerto Rico, to be United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, for a term of four years. Mr. Garcia had served since June of 2002 as the Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Previously, he was a Partner with the law firm of Mehaffey Garcia & Bradford in Beaumont, Texas, and then went on serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. Mr. Garcia received his B.A. degree from Lamar University and earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

TENNESSEE, EASTERN - District Court 6th circuit - James R. "Russ" Dedrick
Acting/Interim? since July 2005
Replaces - Harry Sandlin Mattice, Jr. who resigned July 28^th, 2005 to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee on July 28^th, 2005. The Senate confirmed his nomination on October 24^th, 2005.

Background

TENNESSEE, MIDDLE District Court 6th circuit - Craig S. Morford
Acting/Interim? - date appointed XX/XX/XXX
Replaces - James K. Vines, date resigned XX/XX/XXX

Background

Prior to being appointed to the US Attorney spot for Tennessee's Middle District, Craig S. Morford served in a variety of roles. From Detroit News March 9^th, 2005:

Three days before Christmas 2003, Craig S. Morford was about to leave his Cleveland office for a long-awaited family vacation when he got a call from a high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official.

Morford, a first assistant U.S. attorney who was best known for leading the successful prosecution of former U.S. Rep James Traficant, D-Ohio, on bribery, tax evasion and racketeering charges, was asked to go to Michigan immediately to look into questions surrounding the June 2003 Detroit terror convictions.

[...]

Morford, who will return to his former job in Cleveland, spent 15 months in Detroit, including six months as the interim U.S. attorney here, presiding over the government's painful decision to toss out the 2003 verdicts of two North African immigrants convicted of operating a sleeper cell in Detroit and plotting terror attacks in Detroit and the Middle East.

WASHINGTON, WESTERN - District Court 9th circuit - Jeffrey C. Sullivan
Interim January 26^th, 2007. Sullivan will serve in the post until a successor to John McKay is nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Replaces - John McKay who announced his resignation in December 2006 - Gonzales 7

"Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., has been chosen to help select candidates to succeed McKay permanently."

Background

WEST VIRGINIA, SOUTHERN - District Court 4th circuit - Charles T. Miller
Interim - Assumed position XX/XX/XXXX
Replaces: Kasey Warner who resigned XX/XX/XXXX

Background

From State Journal August 4^th, 2005:

Since rumors began circulating that Kasey Warner was leaving his federal post, the reasons suggested for his departure have included everything from an e-mail linking him to a political campaign to the fact that Warner is related to two other prominent Republicans, brothers Kris Warner, who resigned this year as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, and Monty Warner, the failed 2004 Republican gubernatorial nominee.

According to the US DOJ website, Charles T. Miller, United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, was awarded a BS degree in Criminal Justice from West Virginia State College in 1973 and a JD degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1977. From 1977 to 1982 Mr. Miller was employed as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Kanawha County in West Virginia. After practicing in the private sector for two years, he came to work for the United States Attorney's Office in 1984 as an Assistant in the Criminal division. He has served as First Assistant United States Attorney since 1987, and has served as both Acting and Interim United States Attorney.

Earlier stories in this ePluribus Media Journal series include:

The Gonzales Seven which identifies 7 of the U.S. Attorneys who have resigned since the Patriot Act reauthorization of March 2006. The article provides a compilation of who appointed each of the seven, their terms, and what cases they are working on.

The Alberto Gonzales Appointments: How the Process Has Changed and Why this is so Important which provides background on the U.S. Attorney system in the United States, what the traditional manner of recommending, appointing and confirming them has been. It provides a snapshot of how the Patriot Act reauthorization in March 2006 is thought to have changed that process.

Alberto Gonzales: Gaming the System Again in Arizona? looks at how Diane Humetewa, the U.S. Attorney recommendation of Republican Senators Kyl and McCain, was not nominated, as is customarily the practice.

ePluribus Media Researchers, Contributors and Fact Checkers: A collaborative writing effort with several ePMedia researchers and bloggers: Rayne Today, JeninRI, wanderindiana, Greyhawk, Duke1676, ConnecticutMan1, Zan, Biblio, clammyc, Aaron Barlow. On Kos: DC Pol Sci, Marketrustee, MacDust, carolita, lapin

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