Richard Hartunian (DOJ)

A family tragedy set Richard Hartunian on his path to becoming a U.S. Attorney, The Syracuse Post-Standard reports. In 1988, Hartunian’s parents got the news that their daughter had been killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Lynne Hartunian, then a student at the State University of New York at Oswego, was returning from a study-abroad program in Europe, the newspaper reports. At the time, 27-year-old Richard Hartunian, who last week won Senate confirmation to be the new U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, was a new lawyer doing mostly real estate closings.

His mother, Joanne Hartunian, was paralyzed by the news and stayed on the couch for days. Her son brought her food and worked on taking care of the family. “I kind of had to kick into gear,” he told The Post-Standard.

In addition to supporting his family, this included becoming a leader the Pan Am 103 victims group, according to the newspaper. Hartunian was one of the seven original members of the group that lobbied for a presidential commission on security at airports and called for additional investigations from the U.S. and British governments, the newspaper reports. Even though he was only three years out of law school, Hartunian was the legal adviser to the group.

Joanne told The Post-Standard that it was this experience as a crime victim and advocate for others that helped the attorney realize he wanted to be a federal prosecutor.  “The only thing he ever said, and this was a long time ago, was that after being a victim he had decided that he wanted to be a prosecutor,” she said.  Hartunian became a federal prosecutor in 1997.

Before the bombing, Hartunian had hoped to become an assistant district attorney in Albany County, N.Y., which he eventually did for seven years. However, the aftermath of the bombing educated him not only about the power of the federal government but the need to be compassionate toward victims, according to the newspaper. Among the issues Hartunian dealt with were getting death certificates from Scotland, having personal property returned and the identification of the remains.

Although the bombing was a turning point in his life, Hartunian did not want it to overshadow other aspects of his life. “You don’t want to be defined by those events alone,” he told The Post-Standard. “They were an important chapter in my life that steered me, that had impact on me, that taught me a lot about myself, about faith, about family and the importance of living life to its fullest every day.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has added six nominations to the agenda for its Thursday business meeting — three U.S. Attorney nominees and three controversial figures nominated to be Assistant Attorneys General.

Andre Birotte Jr. (gov)

Ron Machen (Wilmer Hale)

The three U.S. Attorney nominees are Andre Birotte Jr. (Central District of California), Richard Hartunian (Northern District of New York) and Ronald Machen (District of Columbia). All three were nominated Dec. 23. Read more about Birotte here. Read more about Hartunian here. Read more about Machen here.

The agenda also includes three high ranking Justice Department appointees whose nominations were not acted on by the Senate last year and whose nominations were returned to the White House at the end of last year’s session — Mary L. Smith to head the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Christopher Schroeder to head the Office of Legal Policy and Dawn Johnsen, to head the Office of Legal Counsel. President Obama re-nominated the three earlier this month.

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

Although the names of Smith, Schroeder and Johnsen were placed on this week’s agenda, committee Republicans have the right to delay action for a week.

The panel’s top Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, has formally asked committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to schedule another hearing on the Johnsen nomination. Leahy sent a letter to Sessions regarding the Republican’s request, a Senate aide told Main Justice. It is unclear what the letter said.

Sessions also said Republicans would likely support additional hearings on Smith and Schroeder as well, although he has not formally made such a request.

Andrew Ramonas contributed to this report.

This post has been updated from an earlier version.

U.S. Attorney-in-waiting Richard S. Hartunian (Georgetown University, Albany Law School) was sworn in as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York yesterday, The Troy Record reports.

President Barack Obama nominated the veteran prosecutor on Dec. 23 to fill the post. The last Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in the district was Glenn T. Suddaby, who served from 2002 until 2008, when he became a federal judge.

Norman A. Mordue, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, administered the oath of office. At the same time, Mordue swore in Andrew T. Baxter, the district’s former acting and interim U.S. Attorney, as a U.S. magistrate judge.

Baxter became acting U.S. Attorney on Sept. 5, 2008, following Suddaby’s resignation. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder then named Baxter interim U.S. Attorney on April 3, 2009.

Ron Machen (Wilmer Hale)

President Barack Obama on Wednesday sent seven U.S. Attorneys nominations to the Senate.

The year-end cluster of nominations brings the number of U.S. Attorney nominations Obama has made this year to 42.

In comparison, President George W. Bush had nominated more than 60 U.S. Attorneys and President Bill Clinton more than 70 U.S. Attorneys by this time in their first terms.

Here are the nominations, from the White House news release:

André Birotte Jr.: Nominee for the Central District of California

Birotte works for the Los Angeles Police Commission, where he has been Inspector General since 2003 and served as an Assistant Inspector General from 2001 to 2003.  From 1995 to 1999, Birotte served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California.   He started his legal career as a Deputy Public Defender in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, serving from 1991 to 1995.  Birotte graduated from Tufts University in 1987 and Pepperdine University School of Law 1991.

David A. Capp: Nominee for the Northern District of Indiana

Capp has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana for 24 years and has served as Interim United States Attorney since 2007.   He previously served as interim United States Attorney in 1993 and from 1999 to 2001.  Prior to his federal service, he worked as an associate at Cohen and Thiros from 1977 to 1985, becoming a partner in 1984.  Capp graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1972 and the Valparaiso University School of Law in 1977.

Richard S. Hartunian: Nominee for the Northern District of New York

Hartunian has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York since 1997.  From 1990 to 1997, Hartunian worked both as an Assistant District Attorney for the Office of the District Attorney in Albany County, N.Y., and as a partner at Hartunian and Clark.  Prior to that, he was an associate attorney at Devine, Piedmont and Rutnik.  Hartunian graduated from Georgetown University in 1983 and the Albany Law School of Union University in 1986.

William Hochul leaving the Buffalo court house in 2002 after bail hearings for the "Lackawana Six." (Getty Images)

William J. Hochul Jr.: Nominee for the Western District of New York

Hochul has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of New York for 18 years, serving as Chief of the National Security Division since 2007 and Chief of the Anti-Terrorism Unit from 2002 to 2007.  From 1981 to 1991, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.  Prior to that, Hochul was an associate at Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley & Casey from 1985 to 1987.  Following law school, he was a law clerk for Judge James F. Couch Jr., of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1984 to 1985.  Hochul graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981 and the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984.

Ronald C. Machen, Jr.: Nominee for the District of Columbia

Machen, whose nomination we reported yesterday, is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where he has worked since 2001.  From 1997 to 2001, Machen served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Prior to that, Machen was a law clerk for Judge Damon J. Keith of the United States Court of Appeals, for the Sixth Circuit, from 1995 to 1996.  Immediately following law school, he was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering from 1994 to 1995. Machen graduated from Stanford University in 1991 and Harvard Law School in 1994.

Anne M. Tompkins: Nominee for the Western District of North Carolina

Tompkins is a partner at Alston & Bird, LLP, where she has worked since 2005.  From 2000 to 2005, she was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, serving as Deputy Criminal Chief from 2002 to 2004 and on detail in the Regime Crimes Liaison Office in Baghdad, Iraq, from 2004 to 2005.  Tompkins graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1984, the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina in 1989 and the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992.

Sally Quillian Yates: Nominee for the Northern District of Georgia

Yates is the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, where she has worked since 1989.  She served in that office as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1989 to 1994, Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Unit from 1994 to 2002, and First Assistant United States Attorney from 2002 to 2009. She had a previous stint as Acting United States Attorney in 2004.  From 1986 to 1989, she was an associate at King & Spalding.  Yates graduated from the University of Georgia in 1982 and the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986.