NAFUSA Past President Don Stern (Massachusetts 1993-2001) was hired in 2018 by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley to lead an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct in all three seminaries in the Archdiocese of Boston. The review focused on allegations of sexual misconduct at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton. The year long review was led by Stern and his Boston law firm Yurko, Salvensen & Remz. On November 22, 2019, the Archdiocese of Boston released the Stern independent report that confirmed instances of inappropriate sexual activity and found that social drinking was frequently encouraged at St. John’s Seminary.

Click here to read Review drinking and sex at seminary- The Boston Globe

Eric Schaff/The New York Times

As the impeachment inquiry reached its fifth day of open hearings on November 21, 2019, NAFUSA Secretary Ken Wainstein appeared at the side of witness David Holmes, an official from the American Embassy in Ukraine.

US Marshals Director Don Washington joined Attorney General William P. Barr in announcing that a large-scale law enforcement operation, known as “Operation Triple Beam Albuquerque”, concluded on October 31, 2019, with the arrests of 327 alleged fugitives throughout New Mexico. Washington is a NAFUSA member and a former member of the board of directors and treasurer.

The Department of Justice announced that “The operation resulted in the seizure of 43 illegal firearms, more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine, four pounds of heroin, and two pounds of cocaine. In addition, 31 stolen vehicles were recovered and $50,000 was seized.”

“We brought Operation Triple Beam, our mobile gang enforcement platform, to Albuquerque to target the gang-related fugitives fueling the violent crime in the area,” said Director Washington. “The U.S. Marshals in the District of New Mexico, along with dedicated inspectors in our Investigative Operations Division, and all of our partner agencies, achieved results that illustrate our full commitment to make communities safer by addressing violent crime at its core and taking the worst of the worst off the streets. The good citizens of New Mexico have our enduring support.”

The Department’s Office of Public Affairs reported:

This is the second OTB conducted by the U.S. Marshals in New Mexico this year. OTB Las Cruces concluded April 12, 2019, with the arrest of 154 fugitives throughout Dona Ana County; there were 115 felony arrests within the City of Las Cruces.

 

OTB provides communities with immediate relief from violent, gang-related crime and targets fugitives who commit violent crime and those who provide them safe harbor. Since the Department of Justice reinvigorated Project Safe Neighborhoods in 2017, U.S. Marshals have launched 33 OTB collaborations of local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies in some of the nation’s most violence-plagued communities, resulting in more than 6,000 arrests, 1,200 firearms confiscations, and the seizure of $1.8 million.

One of NAFUSA’s newest members, Preet Bharara (SDNY 2009 -2017) is taking his successful podcast “Stay Tuned with Preet”on the road. He will be appearing at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in the Detroit suburbs on Tuesday, November 12 with fellow NAFUSA member Barb McQuade (ED Michigan 2010-2017).

Barbara McQuade

Bharara is an author, a CNN analyst and a New York University law school scholar-in-residence. He has 1.2 million Twitter followers. McQuade is currently a University of Michigan law professor. Bharara joins fellow NAFUSA members Chuck Rosenberg and Harry Litman with popular podcasts relating to issues pertinent to the work of former federal prosecutors, and often appear on the media. Other NAFUSA members who are frequent commentators on national news shows include Joyce Vance and Carol Lam.

WilmerHale announced that NAFUSA member Robert S. Mueller III is rejoining the firm as a partner after serving as special counsel for the US Department of Justice.

Mr. Mueller’s practice will focus on high-profile investigations and crisis management, similar to his work at the firm before his service as special counsel.

“We couldn’t be happier to have Bob, our extraordinary friend and colleague, return to WilmerHale,” said Robert Novick, the firm’s co-managing partner. “Few lawyers have been entrusted with as many matters of national significance as Bob, in both his public service and in private practice. Bob embodies the highest values of our firm and profession. We’re privileged to work alongside him once again.”

“I’m glad to be at WilmerHale once again, a firm with a tradition of honoring public service,” Mr. Mueller said. “It was an honor to serve as special counsel. Now, I look forward to resuming my private practice alongside the talented lawyers at the firm.”

Mr. Mueller’s career in government service and law enforcement spans more than 37 years. He was a United States Marine Corps officer, an assistant US attorney in three different offices, US attorney for the Northern District of California, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division, and the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Mueller, the longest-serving FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover, assumed that role just one week before the September 11 attacks and served for 12 years under two presidents. In 2017, Mr. Mueller was appointed special counsel by the US deputy attorney general to oversee the investigation of Russian government efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and related matters.

From March 2014 until his appointment as special counsel in 2017, Mr. Mueller was a partner at WilmerHale. He was a partner at one of WilmerHale’s predecessor firms, Hale and Dorr in the years 1993–1995. Hale and Dorr merged with Wilmer Cutler Pickering LLP in 2004, creating the present firm.

Mr. Mueller earned his law degree in 1973 from the University of Virginia School of Law where he served on the law review. He received an MA in international relations from New York University in 1967 and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1966.

At the closing banquet on Friday, the election of new officers and directors was held. The results were as follows:

• President: Paul Coggins
• President Elect: Karen Hewitt
• Vice President: Chuck Stevens
• Secretary:  Ken Wainstein
• Treasurer: Donna Bucella
• Immediate Past President:  Terry Flynn

Paul Coggins was elected President of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys (NAFUSA) during its Annual Meeting in San Francisco last month. Coggins, who served as the organization’s President-Elect for the past year and previously as Vice President, was U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 1993 to 2001. He is currently the Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Internal Investigations Practice Group.

Coggins twice served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Council and, in 1998, became its Vice Chair. As U.S. Attorney, he prosecuted the first federal “three strikes” case in Texas and some of the earliest cybercrime cases in the United States. He also prosecuted one of the most complex cases ever brought under the Economic Espionage Act, stamped out one of the nation’s largest immigrant smuggling rings and built one of the nation’s first health care fraud task forces.

Coggins focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense and has represented numerous Fortune 500 clients in high-stakes litigation before federal courts and the SEC. He also has conducted internal investigations involving alleged tax, fraud and securities violations. In addition, he develops compliance and ethics programs for corporations and other business entities.

Coggins is a graduate of Yale University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. In addition to his legal work, he has published two books: a novel (The Lady Is the Tiger) and a nonfiction work on sports (Out of Bounds), which he co-authored with former Congressman Tom McMillen. His second novel (Sting Like a Butterfly) will be released in March 2020.

Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that prominent white-collar lawyer, veteran prosecutor and corporate compliance monitor Michael R. Bromwich is joining the firm’s esteemed White-Collar Criminal Defense practice as a senior counsel. He will reside in the firm’s Washington office and also have a presence in the firm’s New York office.

Bromwich brings nearly 40 years of experience as a federal prosecutor, a special prosecutor, an inspector general, the country’s top offshore drilling regulator, the compliance monitor of major public companies and public agencies, and a criminal defense lawyer. Over the years, he has been called on countless times – by public corporations, private companies, federal, state, and local governments, cabinet secretaries, and the president of the United States – to deal with issues and problems of private and public significance.

In private practice, Bromwich has conducted internal investigations for private companies and other organizations, providing monitoring and oversight services, and represented institutions and individuals in white-collar criminal and regulatory matters and congressional matters. Most recently, his publicly disclosed representations have included Christine Blasey Ford and Andrew McCabe. He has also served as the independent monitor for two of the ten largest companies in the United States – Apple and Walmart.

Bromwich’s celebrated career also includes serving as the Inspector General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he was responsible for investigating public corruption and systemic issues relating to waste, fraud, and abuse within the DOJ and its law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). His work included investigations of the FBI Laboratory, the FBI’s role in the Aldrich Ames affair, and the DEA’s involvement in the CIA-crack cocaine controversy. During his five years as Inspector General, Bromwich took a new and virtually anonymous agency within the DOJ and shaped it into an internal investigations powerhouse.

Bromwich previously served as an assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and as associate counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra.

Bromwich’s most recent public sector service took place in 2010-2011 when he was selected by President Obama to reform the regulation and oversight of offshore drilling and to serve as the country’s top offshore drilling regulator in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill. During his tenure at the Department of the Interior, Bromwich implemented a series of far-reaching regulatory and organizational reforms that revamped the nation’s regulation of offshore energy exploration, development, and production.