United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal criminal prosecutor in their judicial district and represents the U.S. federal government in civil litigation in federal and state court within their geographic jurisdiction. U.S. attorneys must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate,after which they serve four-year terms.
The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties:New York (Manhattan),Bronx,Westchester,Putnam,Rockland,Orange,Dutchess,and Sullivan. Established by the Judiciary Act of 1789,the office represents the United States government in criminal and civil cases across the country. The SDNY handles a broad array of cases,including but not limited to those involving white collar crime,domestic terrorism,cybercrime,public corruption,organized crime,and civil rights disputes.
Michael Chertoff is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President Barack Obama. He was the co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. Chertoff previously served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,as a federal prosecutor,and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded Tom Ridge as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15,2005.
Maureen E. Mahoney is a former deputy solicitor general and an appellate lawyer at the law firm of Latham &Watkins in Washington,D.C.,who has argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Notably,she argued on behalf of the University of Michigan and its affirmative action program in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003),in which the Court decided in favor of Michigan by a 5–4 vote.
Alice Stevens Fisher is an American lawyer and partner at the Washington,D.C. office of Latham &Watkins LLP. Fisher served as Deputy United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division from 2001 to 2003 and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice Criminal Division for three years,from 2005 to May 23,2008.
Philip Jonathan Perry is an American attorney and was a political appointee in the administration of George W. Bush. He was acting associate attorney general at the Department of Justice,general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget,and general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security. He is a partner at Latham &Watkins in Washington,D.C.,and has served as lead counsel on many matters of national importance. He has handled matters before the U.S. Supreme Court,the U.S. Courts of Appeals,and U.S. District Courts across the country. He is known both for his work litigating biotechnology issues and his work on constitutional and federal regulatory matters. Perry was named a "Litigation Trailblazer" by The National Law Journal in 2018 for his "remarkable successes" in litigation,and has seen continued successes in 2019,2020,2021,2022,and 2023,winning cases in both federal appellate and trial courts. He also has substantial experience with Congressional investigations:he served as Senate Counsel to the Thompson Committee in 1997,and has also dealt with such investigations during his time in the Executive Branch and private practice. He is the husband of former Representative Liz Cheney and the son-in-law of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Latham &Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles,California,Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2022,Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world,with profits per partner exceeding US$5.7 million.
On December 7,2006,the George W. Bush administration's Department of Justice ordered the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States attorneys. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White House were using the U.S. attorney positions for political advantage. Allegations were that some of the attorneys were targeted for dismissal to impede investigations of Republican politicians or that some were targeted for their failure to initiate investigations that would damage Democratic politicians or hamper Democratic-leaning voters. The U.S. attorneys were replaced with interim appointees,under provisions in the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization.
John Timothy Griffin is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 57th attorney general of Arkansas. He previously served as the 20th lieutenant governor of Arkansas,from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party,he previously was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas between 2006 and 2007 and U.S. Representative for Arkansas's 2nd congressional district from 2011 to 2015. Griffin defeated Democrat John Burkhalter for lieutenant governor in 2014 and served under Governor Asa Hutchinson. In summer 2020,Griffin announced his candidacy for the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election,but withdrew from the race in February 2021 to run for Arkansas Attorney General instead.
A detailed chronology of events in the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.
James B. Letten is an American attorney. A career prosecutor,Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 2012,he was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the country.
The United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in five New York counties:Kings (Brooklyn),Queens,Richmond,Nassau and Suffolk. The U.S. attorney is Breon Peace,who took over in October 2021.
Loretta Elizabeth Lynch is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York under Presidents Bill Clinton (1999–2001),George W. Bush (2001) and Obama (2010–2015). As a U.S. attorney,Lynch oversaw federal prosecutions in Brooklyn,Queens,Staten Island,and Long Island.
Kathryn "Kathy" Ruemmler is an attorney who formerly served as Principal Deputy White House Counsel and then White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. Previously a partner at Latham and Watkins co-chairing its white-collar defense group,Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs in 2020 as a Partner and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs. In 2021,she was promoted to Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel.
Dana James Boente ( Bent-Ë) is an American attorney who served as General Counsel of the FBI from January 2018 to 2020,United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from September 2013 to January 2018,and as the Acting United States Attorney General from January to February 2017. He also served as acting assistant attorney general for the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice. On October 27,2017,Boente announced he would resign from the Department of Justice after a successor is in place. On January 23,2018,Boente was named general counsel to the FBI by the director Christopher A. Wray,filling the vacancy after James Baker's reassignment to another part of the bureau.
James L. Santelle is an American attorney and former prosecutor who served as United States attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 2010 to 2015.
Randolph John Seiler was an American attorney and veteran serving as the chair of the Democratic Party of South Dakota from 2019-2023. He served as the 41st United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota from 2015 until his retirement in 2017. Seiler was previously the Deputy United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota.
Leslie Ragon Caldwell is an American attorney,who served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice from 2014 to 2017. She has spent the majority of her professional career handling federal criminal cases,as both a prosecutor and as defense attorney. Since September 2017,she has been a partner at the law firm of Latham &Watkins,resident in San Francisco and Silicon Valley,CA.
Zachary Thomas Fardon served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He began serving as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago on October 23,2013,after President Obama signed his commission. He resigned on March 13,2017.
Craig Carpenito is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. On January 5,2018,Carpenito was appointed U.S. Attorney pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §546 by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On April 27,2018,the judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey unanimously appointed Carpenito U.S. Attorney pursuant to their statutory powers. He resigned on January 5,2021. He previously served as a federal prosecutor in the office from 2003 to 2008.
