President Obama has nominated Assistant US Attorney Wendy Jo Olson to replace Tom Moss as the US Attorney for the District of Idaho.
Here is the questionnaire Olson submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee which will consider whether or not to confirm her to the position.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho should not be confused with the Idaho State Attorney General, whose responsibilities encompass state law. The U.S. Attorney prosecutes federal crimes, enforces federal law on Indian Reservations and federal facilities, enforces civil statutes and defends the United States against lawsuits. The United States Attorney, however, does not generally represent individuals in private litigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho has about 59 employees, including 25 lawyers who are called Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs). The U.S. Attorney’s main office is located in Boise, with branch offices in Pocatello and Coeur d’Alene.
The United States Attorneys serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. There are 93 United States Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. United States Attorneys are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, the President of the United States, with advice and consent of the United States Senate. One United States Attorney is assigned to each of the judicial districts, with the exception of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands where a single United States Attorney serves in both districts. Each United States Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer of the United States within his or her particular jurisdiction.
United States Attorneys conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party. The United States Attorneys have three statutory responsibilities under Title 28, Section 547 of the United States Code:
- the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal government;
- the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party; and
- the collection of debts owed the Federal government which are administratively uncollectible.
Although the distribution of caseload varies between districts, each has every category of cases and handles a mixture of simple and complex litigation. Each United States Attorney exercises wide discretion in the use of his/her resources to further the priorities of the local jurisdictions and needs of their communities.
These are obviously political appointments, but how political is the office? E.g., say a US Attorney was appointed who is politically connected with a major newspaper owner who is being investigated? How would that pan out?
Comment by Dan — March 28, 2010 @ 8:26 am
It worked out well for Michael Ormsby — so far. Michael Ormsby is the US Attorney nominee for the Eastern District of Washington. His connections as a private practice bond attorney include involvement in the River Park Square scandal (Stacy & Betsy Cowles, The Spokesman-Review) in Spokane and as occasional bond attorney for our very own LCDC.
Yes, the US Attorney is herself a political appointee and serves at the pleasure of the President. Ideally the charging and prosecution decisions made in the office are made by career Assistant USAs without political interference from the boss. There is some question about whether the present US Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, James McDevitt, adhered to that practice when it came to River Park Square. Ormsby comes from the same law office as McDevitt did, K&L Gates (formerly Preston Gates Ellis, LLP).
It is sad but true that federal criminal investigation agencies must allocate their investigative resources to those cases the US Attorney’s office will agree to consider for charging and prosecution. If a US Attorney says, “I’m not interested in any complaints of public corruption,” then the investigators must either go after other cases or have their agency try to go over the US Attorney’s head directly to the Department of Justice. Good luck on that one!
Comment by Bill — March 28, 2010 @ 8:41 am