Associate Deputy Attorney General Neil MacBride was nominated for Virginia Eastern District U.S. Attorney Thursday night, according to a White House news release.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that MacBride was going through FBI background checks for the job.
Neil MacBride (Business Software Alliance)
Democratic Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb recommended that President Obama nominate either MacBride, Eastern District Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik R. Barnett, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District Robert P. Crouch or Dwight Holton, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Oregon and the brother-in-law of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) brother-in-law. Read our previous post on the senators’ U.S. Attorney recommendations here.
Law enforcement officials told The Post that it is vital to install a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District as soon as possible since the office is vying for the opportunity to prosecute self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his alleged accomplices. The office is currently led by interim U.S. Attorney Dana Boente.
MacBride has served as an associate deputy attorney general since January. He was previously chief counsel to Vice President Biden and a vice president at the Business Software Alliance, where he lobbied the Senate, according to The Post.
Some governmental watchdogs have expressed concern over Obama nominating MacBride because of his past in lobbying, The Post said. They have pointed out that such an appointment would run against Obama’s attempts to reform D.C. lobbying customs, according to the newspaper.
But DOJ officials and former co-workers told The Post that MacBride’s past as a lobbyist and a prosecutor would make him a perfect candidate for U.S. Attorney.
This post was updated to reflect MacBride’s formal nomination by the White House on Thursday.
