President Obama nominated four lawyers to be U.S. Attorneys today, according to a White House news release.

They are:

-Daniel Bogden, Nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada

Daniel Bogden (Getty Images)

Bogden is currently a partner in the Nevada law firm of McDonald Carano Wilson.  Bogden previously served as United States Attorney for the District of Nevada from 2001 to 2007.  From 1998 to 2001, Bogden served as the Reno Division Chief in the United States Attorney’s Office.  From 1990 to 1998, he was an Assistant United States Attorney and member of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  From 1987 to 1990, Bogden was a deputy district attorney with the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office.  Bogden graduated from Ashland University and the University of Toledo’s College of Law.  He served in the United States Air Force on active duty from 1982 to 1987 and remained on inactive reserve until his honorable discharge in March 1995.

Deborah Gilg (Gilg, Kruger & Troia)

-Deborah Gilg, Nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska

Gilg is the president of Gilg, Kruger & Troia P.C. L.L.O. in Omaha, Neb., where she has worked since 2005. Gilg has also been the Saunders County, Nebraska Attorney since 2003 and previously served as the County Attorney for both Arthur and Keith County. She began her legal career as a partner in the Beal, Jensen, Cecava and Gilg Law Firm. Gilg graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska College of Law.

-Timothy Heaphy, Nominee for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

Heaphy is a partner at McGuire Woods, LLP, where he has worked since 2006. From 1994 to 2003, Heaphy was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He then served as Deputy Managing Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia until 2005. Prior to that, Heaphy worked as a litigation associate for Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, California and a law clerk for Justice John A. Terry of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. He graduated from the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Law School.

-Peter Neronha, Nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island

Neronha has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Rhode Island for the past seven years. Prior to that, Neronha served in the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General as special assistant attorney general from 1996 to 2001 and assistant attorney general from 2001 to 2002. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an associate at Goodwin Proctor, LLP in Boston, Massachusetts. Neronha graduated from Boston College and Boston College Law School.

(Biographies are from the White House.)

G.F. “Pete� Peterman III will be the acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia after Frank Maxwell Wood steps down today, The Associated Press reported.

The soon-to-be acting U.S. Attorney has worked in the Middle District office since 1990. He became the office’s criminal division chief in 1996 and its First Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1998. Peterman also served two prior stints as acting U.S. Attorney in 2000 and 2001.

He will serve as U.S. Attorney until there is a Senate-confirmed appointee for the Middle District. President Obama has yet to announce as U.S. Attorney nominee for the office.

UBS AG and the Justice Department have agreed that they will seek an out of court settlement on a contentious civil lawsuit that seeks to force the Swiss bank to divulge the names of rich Americans suspected of tax evasion. Read today’s New York Times article here.

UBS.com

The Justice Department demanded that UBS to turn over 52,000 names of account holders suspected of using the Swiss accounts to evade U.S. taxes.  The Swiss government turned the matter into a diplomatic issue, saying it would forbid UBS from complying with any U.S. court order to reveal the names. We previously reported that settlement talks are now focusing on some 7,000 accounts tied to offshore companies and trusts. While the final contours of the settlement aren’t known, it’s likely the DOJ will get at least some of the names it sought.

Tax Division attorney Stuart Gibson said in a conference call with U.S. District Court Judge Alan Gold in Miami that UBS and the U.S. would be able to reach a final deal by Aug. 7, according to The Times. Gold said he would call off a trial that was slated to start Monday, the newspaper reported.

UBS paid $780 million to settle criminal charges in February. And it was the criminal side of the Tax Division that helped negotiate the settlement, after “high-ranking Swiss officials” flew to Washington to resolve it, the Times reported. Gibson, who is heading up the civil case, learned about the agreement Thursday at 7:45 p.m, the Times reported.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is slated to discuss the matter with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey today, The Times added.

UPDATE: The final version of the New York Times story deleted information that had appeared on the Web mid-day Friday about the criminal division participating in international settlement negotiations that did not include the civil division lawyers pursuing the case. The possible explanations for the deletion are 1) the information was wrong and someone complained or 2) an editor deemed it extraneous and cut it.

Or was the Justice Department just trying to avoid making bad law by agreeing to move a pornography case out of socially conservative Montana to more urbane New Jersey? That’s the subject of this Politico story.

The rundown, from Josh Gerstein:

The Justice Department issued a press release Friday evening announcing that Barry Goldman, 58, of Jersey City was indicted by a New Jersey federal grand jury for shipping what prosecutors said were obscene DVDs to Virginia and Montana. Goldman allegedly operated a web-based business called the “Torture Portal.�

The press release didn’t mention that Goldman was indicted by a federal grand jury in Montana last August for some of the same shipments, which he unwittingly made to the FBI. Nor was it mentioned that Justice Department prosecutors challenged a federal judge’s ruling transferring the case to New Jersey—before abruptly dropping the fight in May and agreeing to the transfer.

Click here for a copy of the original indictment.

Obscenity cases are politically sensitive for the Obama Justice Department, Gerstein notes. Republicans jumped on Deputy Attorney General David Ogden during his confirmation hearing for having represented  Playboy and other purveyors of sexually explicit material as a private lawyer.

And there are other political factors to consider. The U.S. Attorney who brought the original case, William Mercer, had close ties to the Bush administration and, for a time, pulled double duty as Montana’s top prosecutor and acting associate attorney general. He withdrew his nomination for the department’s No. 3 position in June 2007, amid the political uproar over the U.S. attorney firings.

Then there’s Brent Ward, who heads the department’s Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created in 2005. Ward’s complaints about alleged resistance to bringing obscenity cases reportedly played a role in the firings of at least two of the U.S. Attorneys. Ward had been handling the case with Billings-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia Hurd until it jumped districts.

So, why did the DOJ relent?

In a May 22 filing, prosecutors wrote, “The government has re-examined its charging decision. After further internal deliberation and consultation, the government has now determined that initiation of this particular prosecution in the district of receipt, although legally appropriate, is not consistent with an internal Department of Justice policy.”

The policy in question advises against bringing a postal obscenity case in the district where an undercover agent had the materials sent, as in this case. In other words, no forum shopping.

There were other theories on the department’s about face.

“I think it has a lot to do with the change in administration,� former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at Loyola Law School, told Politico. “It makes you wonder how far they were pushing the envelope before…..These cases are fraught with problems and are not a high priority.�

Goldman’s public defender, David Merchant, disagreed.

“It has nothing to do with this administration,â€� Merchant said. “Nobody can figure out why they took their ball and went home, except for the idea that they were going to make bad lawâ€� if they lost the appeal.

He added, “I’m actually surprised to hear they re-indicted the case. In New Jersey, everybody’s going to shrug their shoulders and say, ‘Who cares?’�

Stephen Wigginton, a finalist for Illinois Southern District U.S. Attorney, may have just scored some brownie points this week when he chased down a robbery suspect and tackled him to the ground Wednesday. Read The Belleville News-Democrat article here.

Stephen Wigginton (Weilmuenster & Wigginton)

The Belleville lawyer told the newspaper that he was working at his law firm, Weilmuenster & Wigginton, Wednesday afternoon when he heard his secretary yell that someone had run off with a staffer’s wallet. Wiggington and lawyer J. Brian Menion proceeded to chase the man as he ran through backyards, according to The News-Democrat. The U.S. Attorney finalist then wrestled the man to the ground and held him down until police arrived, the paper said. The wallet was recovered nearby and Freddie L. Davis was charged with two counts of burglary, the paper said.

“That is the longest and fastest I have run in a long time,” Wigginton told The News-Democrat.

Wigginton has been with Weilmuenster & Wigginton since 2000. Prior to joining the Belleville firm, he spent eight years as a litigator at law firms. He also served as a criminal prosecutor in the Circuit Attorney’s Office in St. Louis.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) recommended earlier this month that President Obama either keep Southern District U.S. Attorney A. Courtney Cox on the job or replace him with Wigginton.

The Washington Times’s Jerry Seper reports that Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli approved a recommendation by Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King to drop voter intimidation charges against members of the militant New Black Panthers.

Shocking.

(Note to DOJ Public Affairs staff: I’m being sarcastic).

What’s this Black Panther matter about? You can read our previous reports here and here, or I can just tell you: It’s about Republicans trying to portray the Obama Justice Department as politicized. You know, the way Democrats said the Bush Justice Department was politicized.

The Obama DOJ is highly political, yes. But politicized, as in Brad Schlozman politicized? No.

The Washington Times says unnamed line attorneys in the Civil Rights Division worked for five months to build the voter intimidation case against members of the militant black power group, who were videotaped in paramilitary uniforms and brandishing a nightstick at a Philadelphia polling place last fall.

But King, who’s been acting head of the division since January, told Perrelli she had “concerns” about the case during  a regular review meeting, the Times reported. King recommended some of the charges be dismissed, and Perrelli agreed.

I don’t know anything about the seriousness of the alleged offenses, or the strength of the case. But it does seem these unnamed line attorneys were a source for the Times’s article. So, who are they? I suspect they were Bush-era ideologues, but I don’t know. Tips welcome at mjacoby@mainjustice.com.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) found little common ground on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But they agree there are Justice Department nominees who’ve waited too long for confirmation votes in the Senate.

Jeff Sessions (gov)

Sessions said in an interview with Main Justice today that the Senate should bring Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney nominee Joyce Vance and Vermont U.S. Attorney nominee Tristram Coffin up for a vote.

We reported yesterday that Leahy pointed his finger at Republicans for delaying votes on eight Justice Department nominees, including five U.S. Attorney nominees who’ve already been approved by the Judiciary Committee.

The Vermont Democrat told The Blog of Legal Times there is “no excuse” for the holdups, especially on Vance, who is now serving as interim U.S. Attorney in her Birmingham-based district and who is supported by Sessions.

Vance and Coffin were reported out of committee on June 18. 

“Of course there are some that are controversial for the Department of Justice, but those two certainly are not,” Sessions said. ”It is time for [Vance and Coffin] to move.”

Southern District of New York nominee Preet Bharara, counsel to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the Judiciary Committee, was also approved by the panel on June 18. On June 25, the the panel unanimously approved U.S. Attorney nominees John Paul Kacavas for the District of New Hampshire and B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota.

Republicans led by Sessions have been critical of other Justice Department nominees, including Dawn Johnsen,President Obama’s choice to head the Office of Legal Counsel; Tax Division nominee Mary L. Smith and Civil Rights Division nominee Thomas Perez.

But Sessions said no Senate Republicans have approached him with concerns about the U.S. Attorney nominees.

 

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove played a bigger part in the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge than previously known, The Washington Post reported this afternoon.

Karl Rove (Gov)

E-mails obtained by The Post give new insight into the former Bush official’s role in the purge. Two of the e-mails focus on then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and Timothy Griffin, who replaced then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Bud Cummins.

In an October 2006 e-mail, White House political affairs aide Scott Jennings informed Rove that then-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, wanted Iglesias out of office.

“I received a call from Steve Bell tonight. . . . Last week Sen. Domenici reached the chief of staff and asked that we remove the U.S. Atty. Steve wanted to make sure we all understood that they couldn’t be more serious about this request,” said the Jennings e-mail obtained by The Post.

Rove told The Post he was only a messenger. The former Bush official said he had “no recollection” of how he learned that Iglesias was fired.

“Yes, I was a recipient of complaints, and I passed them on to the counsel’s office to be passed onto Justice,” Rove told The Post.

In a February 2005 e-mail, Rove told deputy Sara Taylor that he wanted to replace a U.S. Attorney with his protege, Griffin.

“Give him options. Keep pushing for Justice and let him decide. I want him on the team,” said the Rove e-mail obtained by The Post.

Then, White House Counsel Harriet Miers contacted Taylor a month later.

“Sara, Karl asked me to forward you a list of locations where we may consider replacing the USAs…,” said the Miers e-mail obtained by The Post.

Rove personally suggested that Griffin should replace Cummins, according to The Post.

Assistant U.S. attorney Nora R. Dannehy and the House Judiciary Committee are investigating the purge. Today, the former White House deputy chief of staff wrapped up the second day of closed-door House hearings about the U.S. Attorney purge, The Post said. A transcript of the hearings could be made public in August, according to The Post.

“I certainly can confirm that Karl answered all of the committee’s questions fully and truthfully,” Rove attorney Robert Luskin told The Post. “His answers should put to rest any suspicion that he acted improperly.”

Patrick Fitzgerald, the top prosecutor in Illinois’ Northern District, has been named interim chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC).

Patrick Fitzgerald (DOJ)

In his new role, Fitzgerald will be the lead voice for the U.S. attorney community. It’s the latest high-profile assignment for America’s prosecutor, who has been busy overseeing the prosecution of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), bringing down mortgage fraudsters, and fighting with journalists.

H. Marshall Jarrett, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, made the announcement earlier this month in a memo to the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys.

The committee, which represents the views of the nation’s top prosecutors and molds law enforcement policy, has dwindled in size as Bush-era appointees have headed for the exit. Fitzgerald replaces Karin Immergut, the former U.S. attorney in Oregon, who stepped down as chairwoman this month to become a state judge. (Fun facts: Fitzgerald and Immergut share the same birthdate — December 22, 1960 — are both from Brooklyn, and attended Amherst College together.)

Fitzgerald’s assignment is significant. It means the U.S. attorney community now has a chief ambassador with some staying power. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recommended Fitzgerald for another term, an overture that was well-received by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder’s Justice Department has been working with a group of outgoing Bush-era U.S. attorneys, except for Fitzgerald, who was appointed to AGAC last year, and possibly Jim Letten, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. (Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has said she wants Letten to stay on the job. He serves on the AGAC subcommittees on national security, environmental crimes and violent crimes.) The AGAC meetings have been constructive, Justice officials say, but it stands to reason that Holder would prefer a committee of Obama appointees, vetted and interviewed by his department, to help him put policy in motion.

Fitzgerald will be keeping the seat warm for B. Todd Jones, who, as we reported here, is slated to chair the committee if confirmed. Jones, the nominee for the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, has broad support and could see a vote on his nomination in the full Senate before the August recess. Jones is currently a partner at  Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi in Minneapolis.

The AGAC, at full strength, comprises 17 members whose terms last about three years.  The terms are staggered, and new members are generally appointed each year. The committee meets regularly with the attorney general, the deputy attorney general and staff.

The Oklahoma congressional delegation asked Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday to justify a Justice Department letter from April that said their state might not get federal funds if it makes English its official language. But a DOJ official said yesterday that federal funds will not be withheld, because revisions to proposed measure have since addressed DOJ concerns.

The letter from Civil Rights Division Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson this April said a constitutional amendment making English the official language for state government actions “may conflict with Oklahoma’s obligations to protect the civil rights of limited English proficient persons.”

“Many state, county and local jurisdictions receive, either directly or indirectly, federal financial assistance from the Department of Justice or other federal agencies,” King wrote. “As you know, recipients of federal assistance must comply with various several civil rights statutes…”

The DOJ official told Main Justice that federal funds are no longer at risk if voters approve the amendment, because the measure was changed about a week after King’s letter. The proposed amendment now says that English would be used as the state’s official language except in situations where federal law requires the use of other languages. Oklahoma voters will likely decide on the constitutional measure during the 2010 general election.

Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe (R) and Tom Coburn (R) and Reps. John Sullivan (R), Dan Boren (D), Frank Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R) and Mary Fallin (R) said in a letter to Holder yesterday that the DOJ letter was “dubiously timed” since it was sent at the “peak of legislative debate” on whether English should be made Oklahoma’s official language.

“Attorney General Holder owes the residents of Oklahoma an explanation as to why this thinly veiled threat was issued to Oklahoma on a state matter,” Coburn said in a statement. “The last thing Oklahoma needs is a bureaucrat in Washington dictating more of what we can and cannot do. Officials at the Department of Justice should focus on more pressing matters under their jurisdiction before issuing statements about a state issue that has yet to become law.â€�