Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein announced several staff changes on Thursday, saying that “certain changes were necessitated by the departure of Nora Dannehy.” Dannehy, who had been serving as the district’s chief of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit, was named Connecticut’s Deputy Attorney General in December.

Eric J. Glover was named chief of the fraud and corruption unit. Glover has been a federal prosecutor since 1998, first serving in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Unit.  He has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in  Connecticut since 2002, most recently serving as deputy chief of the fraud and corruption unit.

Richard J. Schechter was named deputy chief of the fraud and corruption unit.  Schechter has served as a senior litigation counsel in the District of Connecticut since 2005.  Prior to his time in Connecticut, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for approximately 18 years.

Robert M. Spector has been named deputy chief of the District of Connecticut’s Appellate Unit.  Spector has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney for about nine years, most recently serving as deputy chief of the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Unit and as Project Safe Neighborhoods coordinator.

S. Dave Vatti will succeed Spector as deputy chief of the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Unit and Project Safe Neighborhoods coordinator.  Vatti has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District for approximately seven years, primarily as a member of the office’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force,  which pursues major drug-trafficking operations.

Nora Dannehy (DOJ)

Connecticut Attorney General-elect George Jepsen on Friday announced that Nora R. Dannehy will serve as his deputy, the Hartford Courant reported.

Dannehy has been a prosecutor since 1991, specializing in white collar and public corruption cases. In April 2008, Dannehy was named acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, the first woman to hold the job. In September 2008 she was named by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

Dannehy was under consideration to be nominated as the district’s U.S. Attorney. However, David B. Fein received the nod.

Since Fein took over the office last summer, Dannehy has headed a new financial fraud and public corruption unit in the office.

Nearly two dozen prominent former members of the George W. Bush administration are asking their friends to contribute to ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s legal defense fund.

“Our nation is better and safer because of the service of Alberto Gonzales,” reads the letter, signed by ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and other luminaries. “The harsh campaign conducted against him by some Congressional Democrats and by liberal interest groups was disgraceful and unfair.”

Gonzales resigned in 2007 amid political fallout from the firings of U.S. Attorneys in 2006 for what many of the cashiered prosecutors and congressional investigators said were political reasons. Gonzales also came under criticism for his vague testimony in the matter before Congress, which his critics said came close to perjury.

A special prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, concluded that although the firings were “contrary to DOJ principle,” they did not impede investigations into voter fraud and public integrity cases. She found there was no reason to prosecute.

The letter said former President Bush and his wife, Laura, have made contributions. A donation “will show you will stand with those who so honorably served America when they are attacked for that service,” the letter said.

Former interim U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin, now a Republican candidate for Congress in central Arkansas, told the Associated Press that he respects the Justice Department’s decision not to file charges in connection with the Bush administration’s firing of U.S. Attorneys.

Tim Griffin (Tim Griffin for Congress)

Justice Department officials said Wednesday that Assistant U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy has concluded that no criminal charges are warranted in connection with the 2006 dismissals.

“There were a lot of political games being played and I think it could have been handled much better,” Griffin said in an interview with the AP. “I’m talking about jobs and spending and all of the things Arkansans I talk with are interested in. If other people want to talk about it, that’s fine. That’s their right… As far as this story goes, I think it speaks for itself.”

Griffin had replaced former U.S. Attorney for Eastern Arkansas Bud Cummins, who was forced out by the Bush administration. At the time of his appointment, Griffin was an aide to Karl Rove.

Sarah Palin had singled out Griffin as one of the “good candidates” running in Arkansas this year.

The probe did not focused on Griffin’s hiring, instead centering on the firing of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Dannehy also was tasked with determining whether White House or DOJ officials made false statements to Congress or to the Justice Department’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, which also investigated the dismissals.

Nora Dannehy was named by then-U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the U.S. Attorney firings. (Getty Images)

Justice Department officials said Wednesday that Assistant U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy has concluded that no criminal charges are warranted in connection with the Bush administration’s firings of U.S. Attorneys in 2006.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed Dannehy, then-acting U.S. Attorney of Connecticut, in September 2008 as a special prosecutor to look into the firings, particularly that of former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

Dannehy also was tasked with determining whether White House or DOJ officials made false statements to Congress or to the Justice Department’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, which also investigated the dismissals.

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs Ronald Weich disclosed Dannehy’s findings in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) dated Wednesday.

“Evidence did not demonstrate that any prosecutable criminal offense was committed with regard to the removal of David Iglesias,” Weich wrote in the letter. “The investigative team also determined that the evidence did not warrant expanding the scope of the investigation beyond the removal of Iglesias.”

Justice Department officials said Wednesday that the probe is now closed. The inquiry focused on Iglesias and the findings outlined in the letter related to the investigation of his dismissal, they said. No wider investigation was determined to be necessary.

According to Weich, Dannehy and her investigative team concluded that DOJ leadership never made a determination as to whether complaints about Iglesias were legitimate.

“While the actions of DOJ leadership were contrary to DOJ principles, they were not intended to and did not influence or in any way impede voter fraud prosecutions or a particular public corruption case,” Weich said.

The investigation also found that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Kyle Sampson, the Attorney General’s Chief of Staff, “knowingly made material false statements to OIG/OPR or Congress or corruptly endeavored to obstruct justice.”

Reached by Main Justice Wednesday, Gonzales said he had not yet reviewed the letter, but had heard the result of the investigation. He declined to comment until he had an opportunity to review the letter himself.

In an interview with Main Justice last month, Gonzales said he hoped the investigation would wrap up soon. He also said he needed to raise additional money to cover his legal bills related to the matter.

“We need to do a better effort raising additional money, and so we’re going to try to do that as soon as the last investigation [ends],� said Gonzales. “That investigation has been out there going on forever. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but we’re waiting for that to be completed. And once that’s completed — I have confidence that again [there was] no wrong-doing by me — that will again raise some interest in raising additional money.�

UPDATE:

Conyers said in a statement that it was clear that Dannehy’s decision not to bring criminal charges “is not an exoneration of Bush officials in the U.S. Attorney matter as there is no dispute that these firings were totally improper and that misleading testimony was given to Congress in an effort to cover them up.”

He also pointed out that the probe “did not conclude that administration officials testified truthfully to Congress,” only that there was insufficient evidence to show they knowingly made false statement.

“I appreciate Attorney General Holder’s commitment to ensure that such conduct will not happen again,” Conyers said. “I am proud of the committee’s effort to bring the facts of this controversy to light, so that the American people themselves can judge the how Bush Justice Department abused our trust.â€�

UPDATE:

Gonzales’ lawyer, former Deputy Attorney General George J. Terwilliger III, said the Justice Department’s conclusion was long overdue.

“Those who made unwarranted allegations to the contrary owe him an apology,” said Terwilliger, a partner with White & Case LLP. “After having spent months cooperating with inquiries that produced no evidence of his wrongdoing, Judge Gonzales is pleased to be free to resume a career marked to date by service to the public.”

Conyers.Dannehy.OLA

David Fein (Wiggin and Dana LLP)

David Fein (Dartmouth College, New York University School of Law) is nominated to be U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. He would replace Kevin O’Connor, who was the district’s U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2006. O’Connor resigned in order to become Associate Deputy Attorney General. The district’s current acting U.S. Attorney is Nora Dannehy.

His vitals:

• Born in New York, N.Y., in 1960.
• Has been a partner at Wiggin and Dana LLP in Stamford, Conn., since 1997.
• Has been a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School in New Haven, Conn., since 1999.
• Was Associate Counsel to President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C., from 1995 to 1996.
• Worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1995. Also served as deputy chief of the narcotics unit from 1992 to 1993, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 1993 to 1994 and counsel to the U.S. Attorney from 1994 to 1995.
• Was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, N.Y., from 1986 to 1989.
• Clerked for The Honorable Frank M. Coffin in Portland, Maine from 1985 to 1986.
• Was a summer associate at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Southern District of New York in 1985.
• Was a summer associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York, N.Y., in 1984.
• Was a summer associate at Rosenman & Colin (now Katten Muchin Rosenman) in New York, N.Y., in 1983.
• Was a visiting lecturer at the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford, Conn., from 1997 to 1998.
• Has tried approximately 15 cases tried to verdict, of which he was chief counsel in approximately 10.

Click here for his full Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.

On his Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure Fein reported earning $1.8 million from Wiggin and Dana in 2009 in distribution and bonuses.

UPDATE: On his Senate Judiciary financial disclosure Fein reported assets valued at $4.5 million, mostly from his $2.8 million personal residence, and $978,000 in liabilities, mostly from a mortgage on the property, for a net worth of $3.6 million.

The White House decided today not to name the Connecticut acting U.S. Attorney as its nominee to lead the state’s U.S. Attorney’s office.

David Fein (Wiggin and Dana)

Nora Dannehy (DOJ)

Instead President Obama tapped Stamford, Conn., lawyer David Fein, a partner at Wiggin and Dana, to be the state’s top federal prosecutor. He would replace acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, who has led the office since Kevin O’Connor resigned in 2006.

Dannehy was among the finalists recommended for Connecticut U.S. Attorney by Nutmeg State Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) in September.

The senators had also recommended Edgardo Ramos, a partner at the law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District; and William Tong, an associate with the law firm Finn, Dixon & Herling and a state representative who serves on the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Fein, like Dannehy, has prosecutorial experience. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1995, serving as deputy chief of the criminal division and counsel to the U.S. Attorney during his tenure at the Manhattan-based office. He also was an associate White House counsel to President Clinton from 1995 to 1996. Read more about Fein here.

Dannehy in September 2008 was named by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the firings of U.S. Attorneys, which many critics charged were inappropriate and politically motivated.

According to the Washington Post, Dannehy obtained documents and conducted interviews of key individuals involved. She questioned former Bush White House senior aide Karl Rove in May. She also talked with former White House political director Sara Taylor and deputy director of political affairs Scott Jennings, The Post said.

In addition, the Post reported she had contacted advisers to former-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who improperly called then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias, urging him to quickly push through Democratic corruption cases in New Mexico. A month after Iglesias refused the request, he was purged by the Bush administration.

There has been no public announcement about results of the investigation.

One of the candidates to be the next U.S. Attorney in Connecticut wouldn’t have been a U.S. citizen at birth if it weren’t for the intercession of the Justice Department years ago, the Connecticut Post reported yesterday.

William Tong (Finn Dixon & Herling)

William Tong, who is one of four candidates for the post, which is filled by presidential appointment, was born in the United States because DOJ stopped the deportation of his parents to China, according to the newspaper. His father sent a last-minute, handwritten appeal to President Richard Nixon that DOJ accepted a few years before Tong was born, the Post said.

“The Department of Justice is why I’m here today, and it’s the reason why I was born an American and why I was born in Hartford, Connecticut,” Tong, a state representative and an associate at Stamford, Conn., law firm Finn Dixon & Herling, told the Post about the fortunate developments that shaped his life.

The U.S. Attorney candidate has the backing of Connecticut police and fire unions, the newspaper said. State lawmakers also praised Tong in Post interviews about his work on gun legislation.

Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) recommended in September that President Barack Obama nominate either Tong, Connecticut’s Acting U.S. Attorney, Nora Dannehy, lawyer David Fein or lawyer Edgardo Ramos to become the next Connecticut U.S. Attorney.

“That was an amazing act of kindness and generosity, and to have the opportunity to serve the Department of Justice and our country as a U.S. Attorney would be an equally personal honor for me,” Tong told the newspaper.

 

Nora Dannehy (doj)

Connecticut’s two senators have recommended four U.S. attorney candidates to the White House, including Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor investigating the U.S. Attorney firings.  The Hartford Courant has the story.

Edgardo Ramos (Day Pitney)

A 1986 graduate of Harvard Law School, Dannehy has been a prosecutor since 1991, specializing in white collar and public corruption cases. In April 2008, Dannehy was named acting U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut — the first woman to hold the job — following the resignation of Kevin O’Connor, who went on to become associate attorney general, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department. Then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed Dannehy in September 2008 to investigate the U.S. attorney firings.

David Fein (Wiggin & Dana)

The other finalists include David Fein, partner in the law firm Wiggin & Dana, a former associate counsel to President Bill Clinton and a former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District; Edgardo Ramos, partner in the law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District; and William Tong, an associate with the law firm Finn, Dixon & Herling and a state representative who serves on the legislature’s judiciary committee.

According to the Courant, Sens. Christopher Dodd (D) and Joseph Lieberman (I) sent the names to Obama in a letter to the White House Thursday.

D. Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, received an unusual waiver from the D.C. Court of Appeals that allows him to practice law, while the Justice Department criminal probe into the politicized hiring and firing in the Bush DOJ continues, The National Law Journal reported today.

D. Kyle Sampson (Hunton & Williams)

The D.C. Committee on Admissions has not approved Sampson’s bar application because DOJ investigators said he broke federal laws and misled government officials, according to the NLJ. He appealed the panel’s decision to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which ruled that he could practice law in Washington until a final decision was reached on his bar application, the NLJ said.

Sampson resigned from his Bush administration post in March 2007 after public outcry over the firing of nine U.S. Attorneys. Connecticut Acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy is currently investigating whether politics improperly influenced the U.S. Attorney firings.

The former Bush official was set to join the D.C. Bar in summer 2008 but the probe into the Bush DOJ gave the D.C. Committee on Admissions second thoughts, according to the NLJ. Sampson, a member of the Utah Bar, was then forced to go on leave from his partnership at Richmond, Va.-based law firm Hunton & Williams in 2008 because there is a limited amount of time a lawyer can practice in Washington without a membership to the D.C. Bar, according to the NLJ.

Sampson returned to Hunton & Williams earlier this summer. He specializes in Food and Drug Administration regulatory and enforcement issues at the firm.