Gary Grindler, Attorney General Eric Holder’s chief of staff, announced that he is leaving the Department of Justice on December 5, 2012. He has served as the chief of staff to the attorney general since January 2011. He was named acting deputy attorney general in 2010 after the departure of David Ogden. He previously served in a number of positions at DOJ, including as a deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division.

Grindler will be replaced by Margaret Richardson, currently the deputy chief of staff. Richardson joined DOJ in early 2009. She previously directed the Clean Slate Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley, Calif. She has been a counselor to the attorney general since January 2009.