Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) told Main Justice Tuesday that she was not surprised that a black state prosecutor took himself out of the running for an Arkansas U.S. Attorney post.

Blanche Lincoln (Gov)

Carlton Jones, chief deputy prosecutor in Arkansas’s Miller and Lafayette counties, removed himself from consideration for Western District of Arkansas U.S. Attorney late last month. On Friday, he filed to run for prosecuting attorney in Miller and Lafayette counties.

“You know, I think [running for prosecuting attorney] is something he wanted to do all along,” Lincoln said.

Jones did not immediately respond for a request for comment. But he previously told Main Justice that he decided to withdraw because he wanted to run for prosecuting attorney and because he did not want to move his family from Texarkana to Fort Smith, where the Western District office is based.

The state prosecutor was initially recommended by Lincoln and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) for a federal judgeship in the state. Lincoln demurred when asked how Jones moved from a judicial to a U.S. Attorney candidate.

“You have to ask the White House that,” Lincoln said.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pryor and Lincoln have been under increasing pressure from African American leaders in Arkansas to recommend black judicial candidates, which may explain why Jones’s name turned up on their list for a federal judgeship. Congressional Quarterly reported that members of the state’s black legal association met with the senators last month to express their disappointment with the lack of black candidates for federal judicial posts in the state.

“We will continue to work with the African American community,” Lincoln said. The Democratic senator added that she was “proud” of her decision to recommend Jones.

A black state prosecutor has taken himself out of the running for an Arkansas U.S. Attorney post amid confusion about the nominating process and rising tensions between African-American leaders and state Democrats over a lack of black judicial appointees.

Carlton Jones, chief deputy prosecutor in Arkansas’s Miller and Lafayette counties, removed himself from consideration for Western District of Arkansas U.S. Attorney late last month after meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about the job in Washington on Feb. 18.

Carlton Jones (University of Arkansas School of Law)

In an interview with Main Justice, Jones, 48, said he ultimately decided to withdraw for family reasons.

“Really and truly, I was intrigued by the possibility of being U.S. Attorney,” said Jones, who has served as a state prosecutor for more than 20 years. But he said it was “in the best interest for me and my family” not to uproot them from their home in Texarkana to Fort Smith, where the Western District office is based.

Along the way to this decision, Jones’ path took several odd turns.

He said he applied for the U.S. Attorney job last year. But Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor instead recommended him to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas last May after another candidate for the seat, state circuit court Judge James S. Hudson Jr., died.

At the same time, the senators announced another slate of candidates for the U.S. Attorney post:  William Conner Eldridge Jr., a 31-year-old chief executive officer of Summit Bank; Arkansas Assistant Attorney General Shawn J. Johnson; and Western District Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Plumlee. Read the senators’ joint statement on their recommendations here.

Lincoln and Pryor have been under increasing pressure from African American leaders in Arkansas to recommend black judicial candidates, which may explain why Jones’s name turned up on their list for a federal judgeship. Congressional Quarterly reported that members of the state’s black legal association met with the senators last month to express their disappointment with the lack of black candidates for federal judicial posts in the state.

Jones said he did not know how he ultimately ended up back in the pool of candidates for the U.S. Attorney nomination. The White House has worked hard to recruit black U.S. Attorney candidates, especially in the South, and may have played a role in putting Jones back in play for the prosecuting position. A White House spokesman, Ben LaBolt, did not respond to requests for comment.

But Jones is not waiting around to find out. On Friday, he filed to run for prosecuting attorney in Miller and Lafayette counties.

Representatives for Lincoln and Pryor did not respond to requests for comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department does not comment on U.S. Attorney candidates until a presidential nomination is made. “The White House has not nominated anyone for the Western District of Arkansas,” Melissa Schwartz said. “We do not comment [on] rumored potential candidates.”

Arkansas Circuit Court Judge Marion Humphrey, who leads the W. Harold Flowers Law Society, previously known as the Arkansas Black Lawyers Association, said black leaders in the state are puzzled about the decision to make Jones a candidate for U.S. Attorney instead of a finalist for a federal judgeship.

“I expected more out of the Obama administration than that,” Humphrey told Main Justice. “It seems rather strange that this White House would do that.”

The senators have not announced any other black candidates for federal judgeships in the state.

Pryor is not up for re-election until 2014, but Lincoln is running for a third term this year and she is viewed as one of the most vulnerable of Senate Democrats. She recently drew a Democratic primary challenge from Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Black voters are an important constituency for Democrats in Arkansas, where African-Americans make up 16 percent of the state’s population.

But some black leaders say they aren’t happy.

“We are now in an election season and we can’t say we got anything productive out of the Democratic Party,” Arkansas NAACP president Dale Charles said in an interview with Main Justice. “We’re not satisfied with being left out of the process.”

The Democratic chairs of the Senate Judiciary and intelligence committees told President Barack Obama today they support Attorney General Eric Holder’s handling of terrorism suspects.

Patrick Leahy (Getty Images)

Dianne Feinstein (gov)

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary panel chairman, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said they disagree with the barrage of recent criticism of the Attorney General and the Obama administration over decisions on terrorism cases.

“We should not let partisan distractions lead us to cast aside such valuable tools as the experienced terrorism interrogators of the FBI or forego convicting terrorists in our Federal courts,” the senators wrote in a joint letter to the president.

For months, Republicans have condemned Holder’s decision to try self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged coconspirators in a New York City federal court, arguing a military tribunal is a better forum. Democrats last month joined the criticism after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) raised concerns about the costs and disruptions to Lower Manhattan of a lengthy trial requiring high security.

Republicans have also been upset over the decision to treat alleged Christmas Day airplane bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a civilian and allow the FBI to read him the Nigerian national his Miranda rights after a brief interrogation. Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin have suggested Holder resign over the issue.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced legislation earlier this month that would prohibit the Justice Department from using funds to prosecute KSM and his alleged accomplices in federal court. The bill has 27 co-sponsors, including Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Jim Webb of Virginia, all of whom represent conservative-leaning states. Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who caucuses with the Democrats, also is a co-sponsor.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) introduced a companion bill in the House earlier this month. The bill has 49 co-sponsors, including Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, Dan Boren of Oklahoma and Bobby Bright of Alabama.

“Congress should not tie the hands of our national security and law enforcement agencies, but should instead ensure they have the flexibility to use every means available,” Leahy and Feinstein said in their letter. “Congress should be working with you in a shared mission to most effectively protect our national security and to ensure that just convictions, once obtained, will be sustained and upheld.”

P.K. Holmes (Warner, Smith & Harris)

Arkansas Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both Democrats, have recommended that the White House tap a Bill Clinton administration U.S. Attorney for a judgeship in the Western District of Arkansas, the Associated Press reported today.

P.K. Holmes served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District from 1993 to 2001. He would fill the seat left vacant by U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson, who obtained senior status, according to The AP.

The former U.S. Attorney is a partner at Arkansas law firm Warner, Smith & Harris. He specializes in white-collar crime and commercial litigation.

Liberal activists are putting more pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this week to move on President Obama’s Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel nominee.

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

Dawn Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor, was nominated Feb. 11 and reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee March 19 along party lines. Several Senate Republicans and Democratic Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) have criticized Johnsen because of her vocal opposition to the Bush administration’s national security policies and her past work for the group formerly known as the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

In a letter to Reid yesterday, leaders of almost 40 left-leaning organizations said the hold-up on Johnsen is “extraordinary and unacceptable.” The groups included the Human Rights Campaign, National Council of La Raza, People for the American Way and Alliance for Justice.

“Professor Johnsen has the experience, the integrity, and the intellect to head this critical office,” they wrote in the letter. “She should be confirmed without further delay. We understand the press of legislative business before the Senate. But further delay is untenable.”

Though Democrats have a 60 vote-majority, Reid may not have enough votes to end a Republican filibuster on Johnsen.

Specter and Sen. Mark Pryor (Ark.) have not said how they will vote on the procedural motion to end debate, known as cloture.

If Specter and Pryor balk at voting with his party on the procedural vote, Democrats only have 58 votes. But Reid might be able to lean on Maine Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who have not said how they would vote on cloture.

Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen does not have a job in Washington yet. But her family is already settling into life in the nation’s capital, her former colleagues told Main Justice this week.

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

Johnsen started renting a house in Maryland for her family earlier this summer. Her kids — boys ages 10 and 12 — are attending the local public school. Her husband, John M. Hamilton, is the president of D.C.-based City First Enterprises, which develops affordable housing in Washington.

“I think Dawn is proceeding…with confidence,” one former colleague told Main Justice.

Johnsen and Hamilton declined to be interviewed for this report.

Life for Johnsen, however, is not going according to plan. The Indiana University law professor will be traveling between Washington and Bloomington on a regular basis this fall to teach “Sexuality, Reproduction and the Law” at IU’s Maurer School of Law as she waits for the Senate to move on her nomination.

It has been more than five months since the Senate Judiciary Committee reported her nomination to the full Senate on a party-line vote. But objections from Republicans have kept the nomination from moving forward. Democrats need 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster – a task made harder by Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) death this week and the frail condition of ailing Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

It isn’t clear who’s blocking her nomination. But leading Senate Republicans including Judiciary Committee members John Cornyn (Texas) and Jon Kyl (Ariz.) have criticized Johnsen for her support of abortion rights and her strong disapproval of the Bush administration legal memos used to justify torture against suspected terrorists.

Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) has sent mixed signals. The former ranking member of the Senate Judiciary panel didn’t vote on her nomination in committee. Specter later switched parties and faces an uphill battle for re-election next year. He has said he opposes Johnsen’s confirmation. But he hasn’t said how he will vote on the all-important procedural motion to end debate, known as cloture. Click here to read our previous report about how Johnsen gets to 60 votes needed for cloture.

Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) is the only Republican publicly to support of Johnsen. Democrats are hopeful they still may persuade Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, moderate Republicans who remain undecided.

But even Democrats aren’t all behind Johnsen. Sen. Mark Pryor (Ark.) hasn’t said how he will vote. Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) is against her confirmation, though he has said he will vote with Democrats on cloture.

With the exception of Civil Rights Division nominee Tom Perez, it seems unlikely the Senate will hold confirmation votes on other top Department of Justice nominees before the August recess, a Democratic aide with knowledge of the process told Main Justice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is consumed by preparations for the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination hearings that begin July 13. And Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has threatened to put holds on some DOJ nominees until the department delivers written answers to several outstanding requests for information.

That means much of the Department’s top leadership probably will not be in place until September or later. Of the 15 DOJ nominees requiring Senate confirmation, six have yet to clear the hurdles. Here’s where they stand:

DAWN JOHNSEN: President Obama’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee more than 90 days ago. The Democratic leadership has since tried to coax its counterparts in the minority to support a vote on the nomination, but the Republicans have refused to bite even with the August recess quickly approaching, the Democratic aide said Tuesday.

Dawn Johnsen

Leading Republicans including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona have criticized Johnsen for her position on abortion rights and her strong disapproval of the Bush administration legal memos used to justify torture against suspected terrorists.

Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has tried to round up enough votes to prevent a Republican filibuster of Johnsen for months. Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is the only Republican who has come out in support of Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University in Lugar’s home state. Democrats are hopeful they still may persuade Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, moderate Republicancs who remain undecided on the OLC nominee.

But, even Democrats aren’t fully committed to Johnsen. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) hasn’t said how he will vote, and Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) oppose her nomination. Nelson, however, has said he will vote with his party on a motion to cut off debate over Johnsen’s nomination – a procedural move to end a filibuster that requires 60 votes.

Snowe said earlier this month that there are other issues facing the Senate that could also delay a vote on the OLC nominee, including Sotomayor and the Obama administration’s ambitious health care system overhaul. ”I don’t know if it [Johnsen's nomination] is going to come up anytime soon,” Snowe said in an interview.

THOMAS PEREZ:

Tom Perez (maryland.gov)

The Judiciary Committee reported the Civil Rights Division nominee to the full Senate on June 4 by a vote of 17-2. Perez, a non-controversial choice who is currently serving as Maryland’s secretary of labor, could go up for a vote in the Senate within a few weeks, the aide said.

The Maryland labor secretary met with Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) in a private meeting Wednesday evening, Kyl told Main Justice in an interview today after a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. Kyl said his colleagues got a “much clearer view” of Perez from the meeting, which Perez’s home-state senator, Ben Cardin (D-Md.), also attended.

Coburn and Sessions had voted against Perez in committee. While it is unclear whether the conservatives will ultimately support Perez’s confirmation, it appears unlikley they will use procedural hurdles to block a floor vote.

“It was a good meeting,” Sessions said in an interview.

MARY L. SMITH:

A Senate vote on Smith will likely come much later, according to the Democratic aide. That’s because Smith, a Chicagoan and Clinton White House veteran who was an early supporter of Barack Obama, is opposed by Republicans for her lack of tax expereince. The Judiciary Committee reported her nomination June 11 on a party-line vote of 12-7. Republicans unanimously opposed her.

Mary L. Smith (Main Justice)

“She is inherently unqualified for this job,” Coburn said before the panel vote.

It isn’t clear why Smith was nominated. She is a former in-house counsel at Tyco International but has no prosecuting experience. She is a Native American and headed up the Obama DOJ transition team for the Tax Division. The DOJ issued a statement this week in support of her nomination, acknowleding she is not a “traditional tax lawyer” but arguing that her extensive securities law and litigation experience qualifies her for the job.

CHRISTOPHER SCHROEDER:

Christopher Schroeder (Duke)

Office of Legal Policy nominee Christopher Schroeder will have his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Schroeder is a Duke University law professor and a former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Clinton administration. At the OLP, he will be in charge of judicial nominations and legal policy. Read his biohere.

Schroeder served on the Obama transition team for the Department of Justice. A critic of Bush-era legal policies, he was nominated after the president’s first pick for the job, Mark Gitenstein, withdrew under criticism about his lobbying work.

IGNACIA MORENO and LAURIE ROBINSON:

Moreno, counsel for corporate environmental programs at the General Electric Corp., is nominated the head the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Her corporate ties have stirred some controversy. Robinson is nominated to head the Office of Justice Programs. The DOJ veteran is already effectively in the job: She was named Acting Assistant Attorney General/Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for OJP on Jan. 28, 2009. Neither is scheduled yet for a Senate hearing.

There’s a lot of confusion out there about just which Democrat is responsible for imperiling Indiana University professor Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head the Office of Legal Counsel.

As Main Justice reported two weeks ago — and which some reporteres have overlooked — the real problem Democrat isn’t Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who has already said that he will vote “yea” on cloture.  No, the real problem is Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, who is undecided on both cloture and confirmation.

Click here to read our story on Pryor, and scroll down to his Arkansas colleague Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D) quote about how she is “confident” she will support a cloture vote. 

But after Attorney General Eric Holder said recently that confirming Johnsen is “probably my top priority,” there will be intense pressure on Pryor to get in line with his party.  How can Democrats pressure him?  Well, Lincoln is up for a potentially tough re-election next year.  And among other tools, Holder is sitting on billions in stimulus funds for local law enforcement.  He could threaten to withhold grants from Arkansas if Pryor doesn’t play ball.  And Lincoln, who wants all that stimulus pork she can get for next year’s election, could pressure Pryor to fall in line if Holder holds the stimulus stick over them.  And that’s only one of a multitude of ways the administration could pressure Pryor.

With that, here’s the Democratic scenario for reaching the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and proceed to the nomination:

After Arlen Specter’s party switch, Democrats (with the help of two independents) now effectively control 59 seats in the Senate.  When all is said and done, Specter, who had a rough start with his new party, is likely to support his fellow Dems on the procedural vote.  Last week, Greg Sargent at The Plum Line confirmed what we’d already reported: that Specter simply hasn’t decided yet how he will vote on cloture, though he opposes Johnsen’s confirmation.  His spokeswoman told Sargent the obvious: that undecided means there is a chance Specter will vote yes.

But Democrats can’t count on Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, to show up for a cloture vote.  According to govtrack.us, Kennedy hasn’t voted since April 2.  So that makes 58 votes. 

But yet another twist: Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) has said he supports his home-state nominee.  So now Democrats have 59 votes.  So, assuming Pryor stays tethered, now all Democrats have to do is wait until June, when Republican Norm Coleman’s election challenge in Minnesota is expected to be over and Democrat Al Franken is likely to be seated.

There you have it folks: 60 votes.

Arkansas Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both Democrats, have settled on their recommendations for the state’s two U.S. Attorney slots.

For the Eastern District of Arkansas, the recommendations are Michael D. Barnes, a civil litigation specialist at Little Rock’s Wright, Lindsey & Jennings firm; Christopher R. Thyer, a trial lawyer with Stanley & Thyer in Jonesboro; and Edward O. Walker, who appears to be an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District. (We couldn’t find much on Walker by Googling, and the news release issued by Pryor and Lincoln doesn’t give biographical information).

Thyer, an Arkansas state representative, also appears to be a stickler for ethics; read here how he sought state guidance on reimbursement for using campaign funds to pay for driving his car to various events.

For the Western District of Arkansas the recommendations are William Conner Eldridge, Jr., Shawn J. Johnson, and Christopher D. Plumlee, chief of the criminal section in the Western District.

We couldn’t find much on the Web about Eldridge and Johnson. But perhaps this blog post on the Arkansas Times from a commenter who calls himself “Large Ass” explains why:

These nominations make Tim Griffin look like David Souter. Conner Eldridge is 31 correct? AND Shawn Johnson 32? Sounds more like the nominations for Alumni advisor to the Sigma Chi house at Fayetteville NOT U.S. Attorney???

We don’t vouch for the comment; just passing it on.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) remains undecided on Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head the Office of Legal Counsel. Unlike fellow conservative Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska — who is opposed to Johnsen’s confirmation because of her past work for abortion rights, but who will vote with the Democratic party on a procedural motion to end debate on her nomination — Pryor hasn’t made up his mind on either point. This doesn’t bode well for Democrats, who are struggling mightly to muster the 60 votes needed to end a likely Republican-led filibuster.

Dawn Johnsen

Pryor’s spokeswoman, Lisa Ackerman, told Main Justice that Pryor met last week with a group of constituents about the Johnsen nomination. Ackerman declined to name the group or say whether its members were opposed or in support of Johnsen. Being from Arkansas myself, I feel safe in saying the group was probably opposed. Arkansas is a solidly Democratic state, but very conservative, with many Christian evangelicals active in politics. Arkansas voters chose John McCain over Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Johnsen’s past work as a lawyer for the abortion rights group now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America makes her a difficult sell in Arkansas.

UPDATE 5/5/09: Arkansas’s other conservative Democratic senator, Blanche Lincoln, told Main Justice’s Andrew Ramonas today, “I haven’t really looked into it.” Asked if she will vote for cloture on Johnsen, Lincoln said, “I feel confident I will.” Lincoln is up for re-election next year.

Meanwhile, the only Republican to come out in favor of the liberal Indiana University professor, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, is under fire at home from anti-abortion groups for his support of his fellow Hoosier.