Passing of NAFUSA Founding Member John E. Clark

After a long and great life, NAFUSA founding member and early president John
Eugene Clark died peacefully in San Antonio, Texas, on February 13, 2024. He
was 90. John’s legal career, as a prosecutor, litigator, judge and writer, in a
combination of private law practice and public service, spanned over 50 years
and included serving as the United States Attorney for the Western District of
Texas and as a Justice of the Texas Court of Appeals (4th District).

Clark, a born and bred Texan, earned his LL.B. in 1961 from the University of
Texas School of Law following a two-year tour of active duty with the United
States Army in the Far East and three years working in private industry. He
remained a staunch supporter of the University of Texas throughout his life. In
1969, after practicing law in Austin for eight years, he moved to Washington,
D.C. and worked in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division investigating
and prosecuting federal election fraud and illegal campaign financing cases.

Clark returned to his home state in 1971 and joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Western District of Texas as First Assistant under then U.S. Attorney
William Sessions and later, upon appointed by President Gerald Ford, as the
United States Attorney. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney 1975-1977, Clark
served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

Clark engaged in private practice until 1981 when Governor William P.
Clements, Jr. appointed him to the Texas Court of Appeals where he served
until 1983. After his return to private practice, much of his time was devoted
to his qui tam practice under the federal False Claims Act and he gained a
national reputation as an expert in the area. During his time in private practice,
Clark chaired the National Institute of Corrections’ Advisory Board and the
Texas Ethics Commission. In 2013, the San Antonio Bar Association awarded
him its Lifetime Achievement Award, the Joe Frazier Brown Award of
Excellence (see May 31, 2013 NAFUSA newsletter article).

One of the founding members of NAFUSA, Clark was a life member and
served as its third president 1982-1983. He remained devoted to the organization throughout his life, and, in fact, according to his daughter Leslie he was wearing his NAFUSA hat the day before he passed away. NAFUSA owes him a great debt for his
leadership and determination in creating this organization and contributing to its success. On February 20, 2024, a flag was flown over the Department of
Justice in John Clark’s honor and was presented to his widow Carolyn Tevis Clark and family at the funeral services on February 28 by his longtime friend NAFUSA member Ron Ederer. In addition to his devoted wife, Clark is survived by his
children, Karen Cork, Leslie Sartori, John C. Clark and Charles W. Clark,
numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Atlanta NAFUSA Members Get Together

Atlanta area NAFUSA members – who like to be called the “(unofficial) Atlanta Chapter of NAFUSA”- gathered on Wednesday February 21, 2024 at an undisclosed, but clearly fine, location. Thanks to Holly Hampton of Womble Bond Dickinson for sharing the photo with us. From left to right: current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Ryan K. Buchanan; Judge William “Bill” S. Duffey, Jr. (Retired) (2001-2004); Hon. John A. Horn (King & Spalding) (2015-2017); twice-appointed former U.S. Attorney for the Northern (Atlanta 1990-1993) and Middle (Macon 1981-1986) Districts of Georgia, Joe Whitley (middle); Hon. Richard “Rick” H. Deane (Jones Day) (1998-2001); Jr., Hon. Larry D. Thompson (Finch McCranie/Retired) (1982-1986); and Hon. Robert “Bob” L. Barr, Jr. (1986-1990).

Death of Edward Tarver

Beloved NAFUSA member Edward (Ed) Tarver passed away from
complications of surgery on February 9, 2024, in Augusta, Georgia. He was 64.
His friends and colleagues remember his ready smile, infectious laughter and
his service to justice and to his community.

Ed, who was recognized as a “trailblazing black attorney and civic leader” in a
headline announcing his death in the Augusta Chronicle, led a full and
honorable life of public service. Following graduation from then Augusta
College in 1981, he entered the U.S. Army, serving a tour in South Korea in
1982 and rising to the rank of Captain. Upon his discharge from the Army in
1989, Ed followed his dream to attend law school, earning his law degree in
1991 from the University of Georgia. After graduating, he clerked for U.S.
District Court Judge Dudley Bowen in the Southern District of Georgia.

Ed rose to become a partner in the Augusta, Georgia firm Hull Barrett and
served as a State Senator from Georgia’s 22nd District from 2005-2009. In
2009, President Obama nominated him to become U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of Georgia, becoming the first African American to hold that
position. He was sworn in by Federal Judge Bowen who praised his former law
clerk as a “man of integrity.” After resigning from the U.S. Attorney position in
2017, he cofounded the firm Enoch Tarver with his law partner Ed Enoch.

An editorial in the Savannah Morning News in 2017 named Ed Tarver “one of
the best U.S. Attorneys in a long line of professional prosecutors who have
held this important post.” In addition to his professional accomplishments. Ed
held leadership positions in community and fraternity activities including,
among many others, the Augusta Chamber of Commerce, the Leadership
Georgia Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and the East Georgia Easter Seals
Society. He was a member of Doyle Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

Ed is survived by his wife Dr. Carol Thompson Tarver, a pediatrician in Augusta,
Georgia, daughter Elizabeth Tarver and son Edward Tarver, Jr. and
stepdaughters Riley and Ryan Armant.

In accordance with NAFUSA tradition, a flag was flown in his honor over the Department of Justice on February 12, 2024.

Robert Conrad Named Director of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts

Judge Robert J. Conrad (Bob) has been appointed as the Director of the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, effective March 1, 2024, succeeding Judge
Roslynn R. Mauskoph who has served in that position since February 1, 2021. The
Director of the Administrative Office is the chief administrative officer of the
federal courts and serves under the direction of the Judicial Conference of the
United States. The announcement of the appointment was made by Chief Justice
John G. Roberts, who is the presiding officer of the conference.

Judge Conrad currently serves as a Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of North Carolina. Prior to being appointed to the bench in June
2005, he served for fifteen years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western
District of North Carolina, including as the U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2004.
During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he was a member of the Attorney General’s
Advisory Committee and chaired the Committee on Violent Crime and co-chaired
the Committee on Terrorism.

As Director, he will assume full-time responsibility for the management of the
Administrative Office, which has over 1000 employees, and for providing
administrative support to 2400 judicial officers and over 28,000 court employees
and Federal Defender employees.

Judge Conrad graduated from Clemson University, where he was an ACC
basketball player, and from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Death of Former U.S. Attorney James L. Wiggins

James Lamar “Jim” Wiggins passed away January 28,2024, at his residence in
Eastman, Georgia (GA). He was 77.

Born and raised in Savannah, GA, Jim attended Auburn University for two years
before enlisting in the U.S. Army. After graduating from flight school at Ft. Rucker,
Alabama, Jim was selected to attend Cobra flight training at Hunter Army Airfield
in Savannah and was a member of the first class to fly the Cobra in combat in Viet
Nam. He served there from November 1967 until November 1968 and was later
awarded the Silver Star for gallantry.

After completing military service, Jim graduated from Armstrong University in
Savannah and later earned his law degree from Mercer University in 1975. He
began his legal career with Smith and Harrington in Eastman, GA before becoming
an Assistant District Attorney and later Public Defender for the Oconee Judicial
Circuit of GA. He was elected District Attorney in 1981, a position he held for 13
years.

Jim was nominated by President Clinton for U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of
GA and served in that position from February 1, 1994, to April 26, 1996. After
leaving the U.S. Attorneys Office, he established the law firm Almand and Wiggins
where he practiced until his retirement in 2014.

Jim was an avid golfer and Auburn fan, and a devoted father, grandfather and
great-grandfather. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Kitty Tabb Wiggins, two
daughters, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at Southerland Funeral Chapel in Eastman, Georgia on
February 2, 2024.

President Biden Appoints David Hickton to the PIDB

In December 2023, President Biden appointed NAFUSA member David Hickton to
serve a three-year term on the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
beginning January 11, 2024. Hickton joins the other members of the nine-person
board who, according to the founding statute, are preeminent in the fields of
history, national security, foreign policy, intelligence policy, social science, law, or
archives.

The PIDB, which was established in 2014, advises and provides recommendations
to the President and other executive branch officials on the “systematic,
coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for
declassification, and release of declassified records and materials of historic
value…” It serves to promote the fullest possible public access to materials
without undermining the national security of the United States. Five of the nine
members are appointed by the President, and one each by the Speaker and
Minority Leader of the House, and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the
Senate. The current Chair is Mary DeRosa, a Professor from Practice and codirector of the Global Law Scholars Program at the Georgetown University Law
Center. Other members include Andrew Byrnes, Laura DeBonis, Carmen Medina,
Carter Burwell, Ezra Cohen, and Alissa Starzak.

David Hickton left the private practice of law to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the
Western District of Pennsylvania from August 2010 to November 2016, after being
nominated by President Obama. He founded the University of Pittsburgh Institute
for Cyber Law, Policy and Security in 2017 and also has faculty appointments there
as a professor in the School of Law, the School of Computing and Information, and
the Graduate School of Public Information and International Affairs. He currently
serves as Managing Trustee of the National Opioid Abatement Trust II. He is a
graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law.

Russell Coleman Sworn in as Kentucky Attorney General

NAFUSA member Russell Coleman was sworn in as the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s 52nd Attorney General in a private ceremony on January 1, 2024. His wife Ashley and two of their children attended the ceremony. Coleman served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky from 2017 to 2021.

Department of Justice War Crimes Prosecution

The Department of Justice (DOJ) in December announced historic war crimes
charges against four Russia-affiliated military personnel involved in the war
against Ukraine, the first ever charges under the U.S. war crimes statute for
heinous crimes against a U.S. citizen. The announcement came on December 6,
2023, as charges in the indictments were unsealed in the Eastern District of
Virginia (EDVA). The charges include three war crimes – torture, inhuman
treatment, and unlawful confinement – and one count of conspiracy to commit
war crimes, of a U.S. national in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of that country
in February 2022. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum penalty of
life in prison.

The charges were brought in conjunction with investigations by federal law
enforcement agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal
Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro
Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, both NAFUSA members, praised the
work of federal and international law enforcement in bringing justice to American
victims of war-crime atrocities. The charges were brought in partnership between
DOJ and DHS investigators and the EDVA U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DOJ’s War
Crimes Accountability Team (WarCAT), which is based in the Human Rights and
Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) of DOJ’s Criminal Division.

Attorney General Garland announced the launch of WarCAT, in June 2022 during a
meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. At that time, AG
Garland described the team as playing an “integral role in the Department’s
ongoing investigation of potential war crimes over which the U.S. possesses
jurisdiction, such as the killing and wounding of U.S. journalists covering…[the war
in Ukraine.]” He tapped Eli Rosenbaum, a 36-year veteran of the DOJ, who agreed
to postpone his retirement to stand up and lead the team. Rosenbaum had
previously served as Director of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), which
was primarily responsible for identifying, denaturalizing, and deporting Nazi war
criminals.

On December 19, 2023, AG Garland announced a transition in the leadership of
WarCAT upon the retirement of Rosenbaum, to Christian Levesque, who had previously served as lead prosecutor of the team. Levesque joined the Human
Rights and Special Prosecution Section in 2016 after a career as an international
human rights attorney in the private sector.

Jolene Ann Lauria Named AAG for Administration

Attorney General Merrik Garland announced on December 22, 2023, the
appointment of Jolene Ann Lauria as Assistant Attorney General for
Administration, a position she has held in an acting capacity since the retirement
of Lee Loftus, who had previously held the position, in June 2022. In this role, Ms.
Lauria is also the Department of Justice’s (Department) Chief Financial Officer and
its Designated Agency Ethics Official. She is responsible for Department-wide
financial reporting, the annual financial statemen, budget formulation and
execution, the assets forfeiture fund, and debt management. She was the lead
executive in the consolidation of seven separate financial systems into a single
modern DOJ Unified Financial Management System supporting all 40 Department
components.

Ms. Lauria has been the Department’s Controller since 2007. Prior to that she was
the Department’s Director of Budget Staff. She has held a variety of positions in
budget and financial management in her 33 years in Federal service. She received
a master’s degree in public administration from American University in 1989 and
graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in 2013 in
Class 252.