U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee on Wednesday announced he will retire as the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Mississippi on Jan. 31, The Associated Press reports. The Bush holdover has been the district’s U.S. Attorney since 2001.

Over the weekend, we reported that Greenlee would be leaving his post soon, as Gina Phillips Kilgore, chief deputy for operations at the U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., sent out an e-mail titled “Jim Greenlee Retirement Reception.” A copy of the email was forwarded to The Daily Journal of Mississippi.

President Obama has yet to nominate a replacement for Greenlee. Oxford-based defense lawyer Christi McCoy has been under consideration for the job, but we reported last month that her candidacy stalled over questions about her affiliation with a private investigator under investigation for allegedly padding his bills.

Mississippi lawyers have told us Greenlee wrote a letter to the Justice Department about McCoy’s ties to the private investigator, but Greenlee’s office has declined to say whether such a letter exists. Main Justice submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in November asking for a copy of any letter, if it exists.

McCoy was recommended for the U.S. Attorney post by Mississippi Reps. Bennie Thompson and Travis Childers, both Democrats.

McCoy once worked at the law firm of Joey Langston — who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Scruggs to bribe a judge. She also represented former state auditor Steve Patterson, who pleaded guilty in another Scruggs-related judicial bribery case.

Another possible candidate is Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Ivy.

U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee soon will be leaving his post as the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Mississippi, The Daily Journal of Mississippi reports. The Bush holdover has been the district’s U.S. Attorney since 2001.

Greenlee’s departure has been rumored for months, amid various reports that made his Oxford-based office seem something of a soap opera.

The latest: Mississippi journalist Patsy Brumfield reports that an FBI agent who was indicted last week for failing to disclose a personal financial interest in the FBI building in Oxford had sought whistle blower status a couple of years ago after reporting concerns that Greenlee’s office had improperly targeted area Muslims for investigation after the 9/11 attacks.

The so-called Convenience Store Initiative didn’t find any terrorist links, but prosecutors did end up charging some 60 people with selling excessive amounts of pseudoephedrine, used to make methamphetamine, an illegal drug.

The agent, Hal Neilson, also reportedly raised ethics concerns about a book that a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the district, Tom Dawson, wrote about his prosecution of billionaire Mississippi trial lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs in a judicial bribery scandal, Brumfield wrote. Read our previous report on Dawson’s book here.

Greenlee and the office’s spokesman have declined to comment about his rumored departure.

On Friday, Gina Phillips Kilgore, chief deputy for operations at the U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., on Friday sent out an email titled “Jim Greenlee Retirement Reception.” A copy of the email was forwarded to The Daily Journal.

The email indicated the retirement party will take place on Jan. 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oxford-University United Methodist All-Purpose Center, The Daily Journal reported.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Martin reportedly will serve as the office’s interim U.S. Attorney, according to The Daily Journal.

President Obama has yet to nominate a replacement for Greenlee. Oxford-based defense lawyer Christi McCoy has been under consideration for the job. We reported last month that her candidacy stalled over questions about her affiliation with a private investigator under investigation for allegedly padding his bills.

Mississippi lawyers have told us Greenlee wrote a letter to the DOJ about McCoy’s ties to the private investigator, but Greenlee’s office has declined to say whether such a letter exists. Main Justice submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in November asking for a copy of any letter, if it exists.

McCoy was recommended for the U.S. Attorney post by Mississippi Reps. Bennie Thompson and Travis Childers, both Democrats.

McCoy once worked at the law firm of Joey Langston — who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Scruggs to bribe a judge. She also represented former state auditor Steve Patterson, who pleaded guilty in another Scruggs-related judicial bribery case.

For more on McCoy’s candidacy, click here.

Joe Palazzolo contributed to this report.

Donald R. Burkhalter on Thursday was named the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, The Associated Press reported. Burkhalter has been working as the office’s Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney.

The head position opened up after Stan Harris, the district’s acting U.S. Attorney, on Wednesday resigned in preparation for his deployment to Iraq with the 155th Brigade Combat Team of the Mississippi Army National Guard. He had headed the office since January.

Burkhalter worked at Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., for more than 10 years before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office more than 20 years ago, The AP reported.

President Obama has yet to nominate a U.S. Attorney for the district. The last Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in Southern Mississippi was Dunn Lampton. Lampton was named to the office in 2001, a position he held until earlier this year.

We now have two independent sources telling us that Oxford, Miss., criminal defense lawyer Christi McCoy’s candidacy for Northern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney appears to have run off the rails. We’re now hearing that Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Ivy in Oxford is the leading candidate. We’d earlier reported that Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner of Tupelo was in the mix.

Admittedly, we don’t have great insight into this one. McCoy and Ivy didn’t return phone calls, and a spokesman for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who reportedly recommended McCoy to replace Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee, won’t comment. “We have not made any of our recommendations public in order not to prejudice the White House vetting process,” Thompson’s deputy chief of staff, Karis Gutter, told me Tuesday.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)

After we posted this item back in May saying McCoy had hit a “snag” in the vetting process, Mississippi legal reporter Patsy Brumfield reported June 16 that Thompson had formally recommended McCoy to the White House.

Later, we learned that snag was related to McCoy’s professional connections to two figures in the famous Dickie Scruggs case. Scruggs is the mega-rich trial lawyer and brother-in-law of former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) who pleaded guilty in connection with two sets of charges alleging he attempted to bribe judges in Mississippi. 

McCoy once worked at the law firm of Joey Langston, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Scruggs to bribe a judge. McCoy also represented former State Auditor Steve Patterson, who pleaded guilty in another Scruggs-related judge bribery case. I’m not sure why that would necessarily disqualify her – but the White House is very skittish about controversy of any kind in the U.S. Attorney selections. We also heard about something else on McCoy’s application that wasn’t quite in order, but couldn’t confirm the information.

Langston pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiring to bribe Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter to rule favorably on a Scruggs case. Langston allegedly dangled the prospect of a federal judgeship for DeLaughter – with help from Lott, who as senator was in a position to help push candidates through. Lott later acknowledged he’d called DeLaughter about the judgeship but said he didn’t actually recommend DeLaughter, who wasn’t nominate

The lawyer for imprisoned Mississippi trial attorney Paul Minor is the latest to allege that Public Integrity Section prosecutors supervised by William Welch II withheld favorable evidence from the defense, The Associated Press reported.

Paul Minor (Getty Images)

Minor was a major Democratic political donor who was convicted in 2007 of “honest services mail fraud” for guaranteeing loans for Mississippi Supreme Court  Justice Oliver Diaz and his wife. The loans were used for Diaz’s campaign for the state Supreme Court. Harper’s Scott Horton ridiculed the “honest services mail fraud” charge here in a skeptical analysis of the case.

In a June 24 letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Minor lawyer Hiram Eastland Jr. said DOJ prosecutors “under the management of William Welch” improperly convinced a district court that the government didn’t need to prove any quid pro quo to win conviction. A jury failed to convict Minor in a first trial in 2005, when the government had been held to the higher standard of proof requiring prosecutors to prove that Diaz had taken official actions in exchange for Minor’s loan guarantee, Eastland wrote.

“The Justice Department prosecutors over whom Mr. Welch had senior management responsibility were overreaching in their representation of the law,” Eastland wrote. The letter was cc’ed to Criminal Division chief Lanny Breuer and Kevin Ohlson, Holder’s chief of staff.

Eastland also told The AP the corruption charges against his client should be thrown out due to Brady concerns. “This is like the Stevens case on steroids,” Eastland told The AP. One government witness never stated in 17 interviews with government agents and before grand juries that Minor had told him to lie to the FBI. But the witness gave testimony “to that effect” at trial, Eastland wrote.

Welch supervised the bungled prosecutions of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R- Alaska) and two Alaskan lawmakers, and also supervised the Minor prosecution team. Eastland said Welch “allowed ground level prosecutors to engage in the blatantly improper, unethical and unconstitutional trial tactic of withholding exculpatory evidence from defendants,” according to The AP.

Eastland has said the prosecution of Minor was politically motivated. The Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing allegations of selective prosecution against Minor, Diaz and other Democrats in other states, including ex-Alabama Gov. Donald Siegelman, Georgia Thompson in Wisconsin and Dr. Cyril Wecht in Pennsylvania.

Diaz’s wife, Jennifer, recently filed allegations against former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Dunn Lampton and his cousin, Leslie Lampton, accusing them of illegally obtaining and distributing her private financial records in an attempt to remove her husband from office. Diaz was twice acquitted of tax charges in Missisippi. Lampton’s office didn’t prosecute him but assisted in the case.

As for Minor, his appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is pending.

In the old days, back when we reporters worked for big media companies and earned real salaries, we used to do things like “report” stories. Now we don’t always have enough time to dig. So, dear readers — help us out here. Can anyone shed light on who’s been recommended for the two U.S. Attorney jobs in Mississippi? Email us at tips@mainjustice.com

A spokesman for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told Main Justice’s Andrew Ramonas last week that Thompson had already made his recommendations to the White House, but he declined to give the names. Thompson is in charge of the selections because Mississippi’s two senators, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, are both Republicans.

Rep. Bennie Thompson

Here are the names we’ve heard for the Northern District: Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner of Tupelo and Oxford attorney Christi McCoy. We’ve heard rumors – but can’t confirm — that McCoy may have hit some kind of snag in the vetting process. Through an aide, all Gardner would say is that he “has no way of confirming” any information about his potential candidacy. McCoy did not return a phone call seeking comment. We also heard Cindy Mitchell of Clarksdale mentioned for the post.

For the Southern District, the names we’ve heard are Kathy Nester, a Jackson attorney; Deborah McDonald, a lawyer in Natchez; and Dorsey Carson of Jackson. Mississippi bloggers have also mentioned  Constance Slaughter-Harvey of Forest. Slaughter-Harvey is an old friend of Thompson and was the first black woman to graduate from the University of Mississippi law school.