Attorney General Eric Holder attended Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh’s swearing-in ceremony Thursday, the Denver Post reported.
“From the moment I met John, I was struck by his optimism,” Holder said. “He has an extremely ambitious agenda but one, I believe, John and his team can handle.”
Walsh spoke at the ceremony about his new role and emphasized his priorities of maintaining safety for the American people and prosecuting white-collar crimes.
“We have a system of justice and not just a system of power,” he said. “Our mission is to be attorneys for the people.”
Holder also selected Walsh for the attorney general’s advisory committee, a group of U.S. attorneys that advise Holder on law enforcement policy.
Holder flew up to Denver from Tucson, Ariz., where he was working on the investigation of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and others. After Walsh’s ceremoney, he returned to Tucson to attend the funeral of U.S. District Judge John Roll, who was killed in the shooting rampage.
The ceremony in Denver marked Holder’s 17th U.S. Attorney investiture. Main Justice reported earlier on why Holder likes to attend the ceremonies.
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John Walsh (Hill & Robbins)
John Walsh, the nominee to be the next Colorado U.S. Attorney, was honored by the Colorado Lawyers Committee at the group’s annual awards ceremony, Law Week Colorado reported.
Walsh received the award for Outstanding Sustained Contribution at the luncheon, held in Denver last week.
Walsh, a partner at Hill & Robbins PC, was nominated by President Barack Obama to head the Denver-based office on April 14. Obama’s first nominee, Stephanie Villafuerte, withdrew last year.
Law Week Colorado reported that Walsh received praise from colleagues in a video played during the event. James Scarboro of Arnold & Porter LLP called Walsh “the most relentlessly kindhearted and public-spirited lawyer I know in Denver.” Bob Hill, a founding partner of Hill & Robbins PC, said, “He truly is most deserving of this award not only for his accomplishments, but for the way he went about achieving those accomplishments.”
In his acceptance speech, Walsh quoted former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. “There is in most Americans some spark of idealism, which can be fanned into a flame,” Walsh said. “It takes sometimes a divining rod to find what it is; but when found…the results are often extraordinary.”
“Use this organization to find your own spark of idealism and put it to good use for the people of Colorado,” he added.
Please send news of moves, promotions and honors to personnelchanges@mainjustice.com.
A video of the ceremony from the Law Week Colorado is embedded below.
CLC Luncheon from Circuit Media on Vimeo.
John Walsh (Hill & Robbins PC)
John F. Walsh (Williams College, Stanford Law School) is nominated to be U.S. Attorney for Colorado. He would replace Troy Eid, who became a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig in Denver in January 2009, as the Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for the district. The district’s current interim U.S. Attorney is David M. Gaouette.
Walsh’s vitals:
- Born in New York, N.Y., in 1961.
- Attended but did not earn a degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
- Has been a partner at Hill & Robbins PC in Denver since October 1999.
- Worked at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver from 1995 to 1999. Served as partner and of counsel.
- Was a legal commentator for CBS News from 1996 to 1999.
- Worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California from 1987 to 1995.
- Clerked for Judge J. Skelly Wright in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., from 1986 to 1987.
- Has tried approximately 25 cases, serving as chief counsel on all of these cases with the exception of one case, in which he served as second chair.
Click here for his full Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.
UPDATE: On his Office of Government Ethics questionnaire Walsh reported receiving a membership draw from Hill & Robbins PC of $103,751.
On his Senate Judiciary financial disclosure Walsh reported assets valued at $2.4 million, mostly from two real estate properties, and $696,000 in liabilities, mostly from mortgages on the properties, for a net worth of $1.7 million.
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A Denver lawyer is now the leading candidate to be nominated as U.S. Attorney for Colorado, The Pueblo Chieftain reported Saturday.
John Walsh (Hill & Robbins)
John Walsh, a shareholder at Hill & Robbins PC, has emerged as the frontrunner for the nomination, bypassing Bill Thiebaut, the Pueblo, Colo., district attorney, who was thought to be the leading candidate.
President Barack Obama nominated Stephanie Villafuerte for the post in September, but she withdrew her name from consideration in December after a deluge of Republican queries about her integrity. Walsh was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving as chief of the major frauds unit in the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office. Read more about him here.
Walsh is undergoing an FBI background check and should be tapped soon, according to the newspaper.
Villafuerte, a longtime aide to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), withdrew last year amid controversy over whether she accessed a law enforcement database in connection with Ritter’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign. She denied the allegations, which were raised by congressional and state Republicans.
Walsh is backed by key Republicans in the state, including Troy Eid, who served as U.S. Attorney during the Bush administration.
John Walsh (Hill & Robbins, P.C.)
The Republican former U.S. Attorney in Colorado is pushing Denver lawyer John Walsh for the state’s top federal prosecuting job, The Denver Post reports.
Troy Eid, who served as U.S. Attorney during the Bush administration, wrote Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) that Walsh is “ethical and a person of unimpeachable character and integrity.”
Walsh, a white-collar criminal and civil attorney with the Hill & Robbins law firm, has re-emerged as a candidate for U.S. Attorney after President Barack Obama’s original nominee, Stephanie Villafuerte, withdrew on Monday, citing “political attacks” by Republicans.
Walsh and Villafuerte were recommended to the White House earlier this year by Udall and then-Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), who is now Interior secretary. Their other recommendation was Bill Thiebaut, a district attorney for Pueblo, Colo.
Stephanie Villafuerte (handout via Denver Post)
In his letter to the senator, Eid said: “I know from my own experience that United States Attorneys are entrusted with tremendous power over life and property,” adding, “Colorado’s chief law enforcement leader must act in an ethical and nonpartisan way that’s beyond reproach. Our civil rights and community safety are at stake.”
Walsh also had worked previously for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Former state Sen. Norma Anderson (R) also reached out to Udall on Walsh’s behalf. Anderson told The Post she has known Walsh for a number of years and believes he is “unbiased (and) open- minded and works well with both parties.” She added, “We’re not going to get a Republican appointed, so why not take the best of the Democrats?”
In a Wednesday email to The Post, Walsh wrote, “I was deeply honored to be on the list sent by Sen. Udall and then-Sen. Salazar to the President in January to be considered for nomination as U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado,” adding, “I am deeply honored to be considered now.”
Bill Thiebaut (gov)
Thiebaut, also in a Wednesday email to The Post, wrote that “everyone has a reason to support or to not support their favorite candidate.” He added, “I am sure that the President will make the right decision in selecting a new nominee after vetting potential candidates.”
Udall spokeswoman Tara Trujillo told The Post she does not expect that anyone other than Walsh and Thiebaut will be recommended to Obama.
Villafuerte, a longtime aide to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), was nominated Sept. 30. She withdrew from consideration following a controversy about whether she accessed a law enforcement database in connection with Ritter’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign. Villafuerte has denied the allegations.
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David Gaoutte
Colorado Acting U.S. Attorney David Gaouette has had his interim position extended by Attorney General Eric Holder for an additional 120 days after his previous appointment Aug. 7, The Denver Post reported today. Gaouette, who has held the temporary position since Jan. 10, was named to be the acting U.S. Attorney following the resignation of Bush holdover Troy Eid.
If President Obama does not nominate a replacement for Gaouette by the time his extension expires, the court will appoint a U.S. attorney for the state. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and then-Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) recommended Stephanie Villafuerte, deputy chief of staff to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) for community outreach and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Colorado; John Walsh, a white-collar criminal and civil attorney from Hill & Robbins in Denver who previously worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California; and William “Bill” Thiebaut Jr., a district attorney for Pueblo, Colo. who previously served as the Colorado Senate majority leader.
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