Former NAFUSA President Jim Robinson died six years ago on August 6, 2010. The DOJ Criminal Division remembered Jim in This Week in the Criminal Division Bulletin (August 22,2016).

SPOTLIGHT ON JAMES K. ROBINSON

James K. Robinson served as Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division from 1998 to 2001.

Mr. Robinson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1943.  He graduated from Michigan State University and earned a law degree from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1968.  Mr. Robinson then clerked for Judge George Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  He subsequently became an associate at a Detroit law firm and later a partner at another, where he specialized in litigation.

In 1975, Mr. Robinson began service on the five-member committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners that drafts the evidence questions for the Multistate Bar Exam.  In 1977—at the age of 33—he was named United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, which had one of the heaviest caseloads in the nation at that time.  In 1981, Mr. Robinson returned to his Detroit law firm, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn.  While in private practice, he chaired the committee that drafts the Michigan Rules of Evidence and he co-authored a three-volume treatise and a courtroom handbook on the rules of evidence.

Mr. Robinson was named Dean and Professor of Law at the Wayne State University Law School in 1993.  That same year, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed him to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence.

In August 1995, Assistant Attorney General Jo Ann Harris resigned her position in the Criminal Division.  For almost three years, John C. Keeney served as Acting Assistant Attorney General until President Bill Clinton nominated Mr. Robinson in April 1998.  Mr. Robinson faced a skeptical Senate Judiciary Committee at his nomination hearing.  The Committee expressed dissatisfaction with the uneven prosecution of narcotics offenses, leaks of grand jury material, and potential prosecution of elected officials for purportedly political reasons.  The Washington Post reported that Mr. Robinson “deflected the thunder by promising to apply the law even-handedly.”  He was confirmed a few months later.  As Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Robinson increased the Division’s focus on transnational crime and stationed attorneys at U.S. Embassies throughout the world.  He also helped expand the Division’s resources for drug trafficking and computer crime.

Mr. Robinson left the Division in 2001 and became a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in Washington, D.C.  From 2001 to 2002, he was retained as a consultant by the United Nations Center for International Crime Prevention in Vienna to conduct a global study on the transfer of funds of illicit origin with respect to the negotiation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

On August 6, 2010, Mr. Robinson died at the age of 66 of cancer.  He left behind two children, five grandchildren, and his widow, Marietta “Marti” Robinson, who is now a commissioner with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  In a condolence letter to Mrs. Robinson, then-Attorney General Eric Holder wrote, “As Assistant Attorney General, Jim embodied the steady and steely resolve under pressure that we need and expect from our public servants.  Every action that he took, and every decision that he made, reflected his singular desire to do justice and serve the people of this nation.”

[Photo: Grand Rapids Press]

Richard Hartunian

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today the appointment of U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian for the Northern District of New York as chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC).  Attorney General Lynch also appointed U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade for the Eastern District of Michigan to serve as vice chair.  Both appointments are effective immediately.

“The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee plays an essential role in shaping the Justice Department’s policies, implementing its programs, and ensuring that equal justice and the rule of law are upheld throughout the United States,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “As a former chair of the AGAC, I know firsthand the significant duties required of the committee’s leaders, and I am certain that U.S. Attorneys Richard Hartunian and Barbara McQuade are ready to assume the responsibility of chairing such an important and distinguished body.  They are both seasoned prosecutors, exemplary law enforcement officers, and devoted public servants, and I look forward to benefitting from their long experience and wise counsel as we advance the department’s vital work in the months ahead.  I congratulate them on their new posts, and I once again thank former U.S. Attorney John Walsh for his outstanding service as AGAC chair over the last 20 months.”

U.S. Attorney Hartunian has been the vice chair of the AGAC since January 2015.  He was appointed to the AGAC in 2013 and has served as the co-chair of the Border and Immigration Subcommittee, as well as a member of the subcommittees focused on Native American issues, Health Care Fraud and Environmental Crimes.  He has served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York since January of 2010.  Before that, he had been an Assistant U.S. Attorney there since 1997 and the district’s Narcotics Chief and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Coordinator since 2006.

U.S. Attorney Hartunian is a 1983 cum laude graduate of Georgetown University and a 1986 graduate of the Albany Law School of Union University.  He was engaged in the private practice of law in Albany from 1987 to 1990.  He served as an Assistant District Attorney in Albany County from 1990 to 1997, where his work on narcotics and violent crime cases led to his designation as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1994.

In May of 2010, U.S. Attorney Hartunian was honored by the Armenian Bar Association as the first U.S. Attorney of Armenian descent.

Barbara McQuade

U.S. Attorney McQuade was appointed to the AGAC in April 2013 and has previously served as co-chair of the Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee.  She also served on subcommittees addressing civil rights and border security.  She became the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan when she took office in January of 2010.  She was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Detroit, Michigan, for 12 years, including service as Deputy Chief of the National Security Unit.

U.S. Attorney McQuade is a 1987 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1991 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.  Before becoming a federal prosecutor, she practiced law in a Detroit firm and served as a law clerk to a U.S. District Judge.  From 2003 to 2009, U.S. Attorney McQuade was as an adjunct law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

While U.S. Attorney McQuade replaces U.S. Attorney Hartunian as vice chair, U.S. Attorney Hartunian replaces former U.S. Attorney John Walsh for the District of Colorado as chair.

The AGAC was created in 1973 to serve as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and to advise the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the offices of the U.S. Attorneys.

On June 20, 2016, Georgetown University announced a new endowment focusing on disadvantaged children, and youth and families involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare and related care systems to honor “Janet Reno’s legacy as America’s first female Attorney General and her advocacy for justice and equality”.

“Janet Reno is a passionate, lifelong advocate for children and families,” said McCourt School of Public Policy Dean Edward Montgomery at Georgetown. “Georgetown and the McCourt School are honored to support and sustain her legacy through the establishment of this endowment.”

The Distinguished Advisory Committee includes former AG Eric Holder, former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, former Governor Deval Patrick, former Associate AG Tom Perrelli, and  former AAG Laurie Robinson.

NAFUSA is a Founding Donor of the Endowment, having made a $10,000 contribution.

Click here for more information and to view the 11 minute video of her career.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on May 18, 2016, the appointments of Peter F. Neronha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, and John Huber, U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah, to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), effective immediately.

Peter Neronha

U.S. Attorney Neronha was nominated by President Barack Obama on July 31, 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Sept. 15, 2009, as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island.  In 2002, Neronha joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.  As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he  prosecuted criminal cases involving political corruption, white collar crime, drug and firearm offenses.  When he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he was named coordinator of the District’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice initiative against gun crimes.  Prior to being named U.S. Attorney, he was Chief of the District’s Organized Crime Strike Force.  Neronha previously served on the AGAC during 2009-2011.

John Huber

U.S. Attorney Huber was nominated by President Barack Obama on Feb. 4, 2015, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 10, 2015, as U.S. Attorney for Utah.  Prior to confirmation as the U.S. Attorney, Huber prosecuted a number of high profile federal cases and coordinated task forces that focused on violent crime and counter-terrorism.  He also served as chief of the National Security Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office before being asked to serve as the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, a member of the office’s executive management team.

Preet Bharara photograph by Platon for The New Yorker

In the May 9, 2016, issue of The New Yorker, in “The Showman”, Jeffrey Toobin profiles  Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Toobin, who was NAFUSA’s keynote speaker last fall in Scottsdale, traces Bharara’s extensive record of investigations and prosecutions of Wall Street figures, the leaders of both houses of the New York legislature and gang members in the Bronx.

As the leader of the “Sovereign District” of New York, Bharara’s office has been involved in some of the most important criminal cases in the country. He has, however, been criticized by some for the lack of any criminal charges against any top executives of the major firms involved in the financial collapse. But Toobin reports,

In a conversation in his office, Bharara rejected the critique. Without going into specifics, he said that his team had looked at Wall Street executives and found no evidence of criminal behavior. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the things that we had either been assigned before I got here or had the initiative to look at were looked at really, really carefully and really, really hard by the best people in the office,” he said. “There’s a natural frustration, given how bad the consequences were for the country, that more people didn’t go to prison for it, because it’s clearly true that when you see a bad thing happen, like you see a building go up in flames, you have to wonder if there’s arson. You have to wonder if there’s anybody prosecuting. Now, sometimes it’s not arson, it’s an accident. Sometimes it is arson, and you can’t prove it.”

When Toobin spoke to Eric Holder, he found support for Bharara,

Eric Holder, who, as Attorney General, was Bharara’s boss for six years, made a similar point. “Do you honestly think that Preet Bharara and all those hotshots in the U.S. Attorney’s office would not have made those cases if they could?” he said. “Those are career-making cases. Those cases are your ticket. The fight would have been over who got to try them. We just didn’t have the evidence.”

Toobin is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a senior analyst for CNN. He also served as an AUSA in Brooklyn earlier in his career.

Greg Vega

NAFUSA President Greg Vega will lead the NAFUSA Liaison Committee to Washington on May 5 to meet with Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) to discuss issues of mutual interest. This continues a series of meetings with Department officials which began in 2010.

The Liaison Committee is composed of President Vega, President Elect Bart Daniel, Foundation President Mike McKay, Ken Wainstein, Jenny Durkan and Executive Director Rich Rossman.

Dana Boente

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on February 1, 2016, the appointment of U.S Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). Boente will fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia, who resigned on December 31, 2015.

Boente was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate on December 15, 2015 as the U.S. Attorney of the ED of Virginia.

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Deborah Gilg

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on September 8, 2015, the appointment of U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Gilg of the District of Nebraska to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), effective Sept. 4, 2015.

“The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee plays a crucial role in shaping the Justice Department’s approach to some of the most pressing public safety issues facing our country today,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “I am grateful that the U.S. Attorneys who serve on the AGAC are able to lend their wisdom, their expertise and their counsel to advance the committee’s critical work on behalf of the American people.  As a former chair of the AGAC, I know that serving on the committee while leading federal law enforcement efforts within one’s home district is no easy feat.  But I also know that the AGAC’s members are on the committee precisely because of their talent and effectiveness as public service leaders.  That is why I could not be more pleased to welcome Deborah to the committee, where I know she will continue to serve her district and our country with passion, with intelligence and with results.”

U.S. Attorney Gilg will fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge for the Western District of Arkansas, who stepped down on Aug. 22, 2015.

U.S. Attorney Gilg was appointed by President Barack Obama on Oct. 1, 2009, as the 32^nd U.S. Attorney of the District of Nebraska and the first female U.S. Attorney of the District of Nebraska.  Prior to her appointment, U.S. Attorney Gilg served as an elected county attorney in Western Nebraska for 16 years.  In recognition of her expertise as a prosecutor, she was appointed as a deputy county attorney or special prosecutor in more than 21 counties in Nebraska, in addition to maintaining a private law practice.  U.S. Attorney Gilg currently serves on the Attorney General’s Subcommittees on Native American Issues, Civil Rights Issues, and Terrorism and National Security Issues.

The AGAC was created in 1973 to serve as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and to advise the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.