Former U.S. Attorney Matt Mead (R) was sworn in on Monday as Wyoming’s 32nd governor.

Mead served as the state’s U.S. Attorney from from 2001 to 2007. He already has named several of his former colleagues from the office to his administration.

At the swearing-in ceremony and at the inaugural ball that night were several former U.S. Attorneys, according to former Colorado U.S. Attorney Troy Eid, who attend the events.

Among those in attendance were Bill Mercer of Montana, Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas, John Ratcliffe of the Eastern District of Texas, Tom Moss of Idaho and Susan Brooks of the Southern District of Indiana, according to Eid.

This story has been corrected from an earlier version.

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.

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.

Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) on Monday defended his aide, Stephanie Villafuerte, whose nomination to be the state’s next U.S. Attorney is under attack from Republicans, The Denver Post reports.

“I believe Stephanie did nothing wrong,” Ritter said during a radio interview on  The Mike Rosen Show on KOA-AM.

Republicans have questioned whether Villafuerte asked employees of the Denver district attorney’s office — which Ritter had once headed — to access a restricted government database to help his 2006 campaign for governor. Asking someone to access the National Crime Information Center database for non-law enforcement purposes can be a crime, according to The Post.

In 2007 Villafuerte told the FBI she had “no conversations” with the DA’s office about Carlos Estrada-Medina, an alleged heroin dealer who had struck a plea deal when Ritter was Denver’s top prosecutor. Ritter’s Republican opponent for governoer, Bob Beauprez, had featured Estrada-Medina in a campaign ad against Ritter.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis was charged with accessing the NCIC to check the alias of Estrada-Medina - and providing information about it to Beauprez’s campaign for the 2006 ad. A federal jury acquitted Voorhis in the matter, but he was fired from his job.

Gov. Bill Ritter

“[A]s a person working for the campaign [Stephanie] did a host of things to try to independently verify this identity of Carlos Estrada-Medina and could not do it,” Ritter told the radio host. “She had people who were getting public records. We as a campaign employed individuals — interns — to go to the courthouse and get the records. We got nothing from the DA’s office.”

When asked about a voice mail Villafuerte left for the DA’s office’ spokeswoman about Estrada-Medina shortly someone in the office accessed the NCIC records on him, Ritter said: “I think it’s dangerous to just actually take it from logs. Those are one- to two-minute calls, and if you leave a message with somebody it’s logged as a one-minute call,” adding, “They may not have talked at all.”

Villafuerte is nominated to replace Troy Eid, who resigned in January as the U.S. Attorney for the  District of Colorado

The chairman of the Colorado Republican party wrote  a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, slamming President Barack Obama’s pick for the state’s top federal prosecuting job.

Dick Wadhams stopped short of calling on the panel to reject the nomination of Stephanie Villafuerte to be Colorado U.S. Attorney. But he wrote: “Colorado deserves better than a U.S. Attorney who apparently might have used her former employer, the Denver District Attorney’s Office, for blatant partisan political purposes.”

Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

We reported yesterday that Wadhams and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) are questioning whether Villafuerte asked employees of the Denver DA’s office to access a restricted government database to help the 2006 campaign of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.

Wadhams highlighted a Denver Post article and editorial that are turning up the heat on Villafuerte, who is currently Ritter’s deputy chief of staff.

Villafuerte had discussions with staffers in the Denver district attorney’s office about an illegal immigrant who was featured in an ad against Ritter produced by his opponent, Republican Bob Beauprez, according to The Post.

But she told the FBI in 2007 that she had “no conversations” with the DA employees about the undocumented immigrant, Carlos Estrada-Medina, who is also an alleged heroin dealer, the newspaper said. Villafuerte has declined to comment to the newspaper.

“It is clear from the Denver Post story that, to be charitable, Stephanie Villafuerte was not forthcoming in her conversations with the FBI,” Wadhams wrote in his letter.

Republicans charge that Villafuerte is being treated differently in the matter than a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent named Cory Voorhis, who lost his job after accessing the same database on behalf of the Beauprez campaign.

A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) told Main Justice today that the senator’s office hadn’t received the letter yet. A spokesperson for panel Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was unable to comment immediately.

President Barack Obama tapped Villafuerte for the post Sept. 30. She would replace acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado David Gaouette, who has been in the position since Bush appointee Troy Eid resigned in January. The Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to consider her nomination.

Another Colorado Republican is expressing concern about whether the state’s U.S. Attorney nominee inappropriately used state resources to help her boss during his successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign, The Denver Post reported Saturday.

State GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has joined former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) in questioning whether Stephanie Villafuerte used a restricted government database for political purposes, which could be a crime, according to the newspaper.

Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

Villafuerte, who is the deputy chief of staff to Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, has declined to comment to The Post.

The issue centers on discussions she had with staffers in the Denver district attorney’s office about an illegal immigrant who was featured in an ad against Ritter produced by Republican Bob Beauprez’s gubernatorial campaign. She told the FBI in 2007 that she had “no conversations” with the DA employees about Carlos Estrada-Medina, who is also an alleged heroin dealer. Estrada-Median had once obtained a plea deal under the allias of Walter Ramo when Ritter was Denver’s district attorney, according to The Post.

Republicans charge that Villafuerte is being treated differently in the matter than a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent named Cory Voorhis, who lost his job after accessing the same database on behalf of the Beauprez campaign.

“It is time for Stephanie Villafuerte and her boss, Bill Ritter, to finally come clean on possible inappropriate behavior during their efforts to smear ICE agent Cory Voorhis,” Wadhams told The Post.

Voorhis was charged in 2007 with using the National Crime Information Center database to look into Estrada-Medina/Ramo on behalf of the Beauprez campaign for its ad, according to the newspaper. Voorhis said he was authorized to use the database by his supervisor, The Post said. He was later acquitted by a federal jury.

“As the U.S. Attorney, will Stephanie Villafuerte offer help in investigating the corruption, perjury and malfeasance rampant in the Denver regional office of ICE?,” Tancredo, a fierce opponent of illegal immigration, said earlier this month. “Will she be an advocate for the effective enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws after participating in the disgusting vendetta against ICE agent Cory Voorhis? The answer to those questions is probably … no se puede.”

The Post said the Obama White House continues to stand behind its nominee, who was tapped Sept. 30. Villafuerte would replace acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado David Gaouette, who has been in the position since Bush appointee Troy Eid resigned in January.

Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

Stephanie Villafuerte (University of Denver, UCLA School of Law) is nominated to replace  Troy Eid, who resigned in January  as the U.S. Attorney for the  District of Colorado.

Her vitals:

• Born in Omaha, Neb. in 1965.
• Has been Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s (D) deputy chief of staff since January 2007.
• Headed Ritter’s transition team following his November 2006 election.
• Worked in the research/response unit in the Ritter for Governor campaign from July 2006  to November 2006.
• Was Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Denver District Attorney’s office from January 2001 to July 2006.
• Served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Colorado from May 1998 to January 2001.
• Worked as Deputy District Attorney in the Denver District Attorney’s office from October 1991 to May 1998.
• Handled approximately 75 jury trials, all of which she was the lead chair.

Click here for her full disclosure.

UPDATE: On her Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure Villafuerte reports earning a salary of $130,000 in Ritter’s office. On her Senate Judiciary financial disclosure she reports assets of $1,246,200 and liabilities of $151,500 for a net worth of $1,094,700.

President Obama nominated U.S. Attorneys for Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma today. They are:

• 

  Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

  Stephanie Villafuerte (Colorado): Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D)’s deputy chief of staff for community outreach would replace David Gaouette, who was appointed as the state’s acting U.S. Attorney Jan. 10, following the resignation of Bush appointee Troy Eid. Villafuerte, who was recommended by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and then-Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), previously served as Denver’s chief deputy district attorney. She also worked on Ritter’s campaign.

• Sanford Coats (Western District of Oklahoma): The Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma has served in his current role since 2004 and simultaneously headed the major crimes section of the office from 2007 to 2008. Before joining the office he was an associate at the Oklahoma City law firm Fellers, Snider, Blankenship, Bailey & Tippens.

• Beth Phillips (Western District of Missouri) The Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri has served in her current role since last year. Before joining the office she was an attorney in the Leawood law firm Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny. In addition, from 1997 to 2001 Phillips served as an assistant prosecutor in Jackson County.

Obama has now made a total of 30 U.S. Attorney nominations. The full Senate has considered 14 of those nominees and they were all confirmed by unanimous consent. Read biographies of the nominees here.

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.