Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith, former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, argues why the U.S. shouldn’t try Julian Assange.
In a second Main Justice video, former federal prosecutor Eric Snyder argues the case for prosecution. Goldsmith and Snyder were joined on the panel at the Santa Fe conference by 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, now Washington correspondent for The New York Times, Ken Wainstein, who served in many high ranking positions in the Bush Administration, including the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA operations officer whose name became public as a result of a well publized leak. The panel was moderated by NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was keynote speaker at the NAFUSA Conference in Santa Fe on October 1st. Outgoing NAFUSA president Bill Lutz gave the introduction.
At the NAFUSA Conference, Hawaii Assitant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson discussed the prosecution of former Northrop engineer Noshir Gowadia, convicted of selling classified military information to the Chinese. Sorenson won the 2011 J. Michael Bradford award for the case.
On Saturday, October 1, 2011, Richard H. Deane, Jr., became the 32nd president of NAFUSA. At the concluding banquet of the Santa Fe conference, Rick was introduced by outgoing president Bill Lutz. Rick promply lauded the job done by Bill and his wife, Jeanne, in organizing the outstanding conference in New Mexico. Rick then presented Bill with a NAFUSA’s gift of a high powered telescope to view the New Mexico skies above Bill’s home in Las Cruces.
Rick Deane served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1998-2001. He was also a Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District from 1980-1994. Rick is currently a partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, where he is co-chair of the Firm’s Corporate Criminal Investigations Practice and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
On Saturday evening, the following officers for 2011-2012 were elected: President Elect: Jay Stephens, District of Columbia; Vice President: Don Stern, Massachusetts; Secretary: Matt Orwig, ED Texas; Treasurer: Greg Vega, SD California; Immediate Past President: Bill Lutz, New Mexico.
The new directors elected for the term ending 2014 were: Paul Coggins, ND Texas; Karen Hewitt, SD California; Doug Jones, ND Alabama; Tom Maroney, ND New York; and Ron Woods, SD Texas.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, was the keynote speaker at Saturday’s closing banquet.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano with appointees from the Clinton Adminstration
The Thursday evening cocktail reception was held at the Palace of the Governors on Santa Fe Plaza.
Rick Deane and Bill Lutz at the Palace of Governors
The Friday morning panel discussion on Southwest Border issues featured high ranking officials from the governments of Mexico and the United States.
Gustavo Mohar and David Aguilar
The Saturday panel on WikiLeaks included former government officials, members of the press and a former undercover CIA agent.
Jack Goldsmith, Ken Wainstein, Eric Snyder, Charlie Savage, Valerie Plame Wilson, Rich Rossman
Bradford Award winner Ken Sorenson brought his family with him from Hawaii.
Jay Stephens presents award to Ken Sorenson, while Ken's family looks on
It was a beautiful evening in Santa Fe for the cocktail reception prior to the concluding banquet.
A large contingent of former United States Attorneys from Texas attended the conference.
Appointees of President George W. Bush were, once again, well represented.
The officers of NAFUSA posed for a final photo.
Rich Rossman, Matt Orwig, Jay Stephens, Rick Deane, Bill Lutz, Don Stern, Ron Woods
This year’s conference in Santa Fe turned out to be one of the most successful in NAFUSA’s 32 years. With 100 members present and a total attendance including guests and speakers of 186, the turnout matched prior conferences in New York and Washington, historically the most popular sites.
Hosts President Bill Lutz and his wife, Jeanne, drew raves for the beautiful venue and the outstanding social events — the cocktail reception at the Palace of the Governors on the Santa Fe Plaza and the luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion.
Highlights included the keynote address from Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security. She was among friends, having served as United States Attorney in the District of Arizona. The conference also featured two outstanding panel discussions. The Friday panel “Southwest Border Issues” included an appearance by Gustavo Mohar, General Secretary of the Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN), second in command for Mexico’s agency comparable to a combined FBI and CIA, and David Aguilar, the Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The panel was joined by Larry Villalobos, Section Chief of the Research and Analysis Section of the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and Ken Gonzales, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico and moderated by Charlie Savage of The New York Times.
Saturday’s panel on WikiLeaks featured Charlie Savage, Professor Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School, Ken Wainstein of O’Melveny & Myers, Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA operations officer, and Eric Snyder of Kobre & Kim. Rich Rossman, the new NAFUSA Executive Director, moderated the panel.
This year’s J. Michael Bradford Award winner was Ken Sorenson, a 25 year veteran Assistant United States Attorney from the District of Hawaii, who recently prosecuted a high profile espionage case involving the illegal disclosure of classified information on the B-2 bomber. The Bradford Award is given annually to NAFUSA’s choice of the most outstanding AUSA in the country.
At the concluding banquet, the gavel was passed from Bill Lutz to the newly elected President, Rick Deane. Retiring Executive Director Ron Woods was honored and an election was held for the new slate of officers and directors. Greg Vega was elected Treasurer and new board members were selected: Karen Hewitt, Doug Jones, Paul Coggins, Tom Maroney and Ron Woods.
It was announced that next year’s conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on October 11-13, 2012.
Calling it a “lively discussion,” Main Justice has reported on Saturday’s NAFUSA WikiLeaks panel.
Should the U.S. government prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for disclosing a vast trove of classified State Department cables and military documents?
The pros and cons of prosecution– and whether WikiLeaks is legally distinguishable from newspapers and other traditional media – were debated Saturday at the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys annual conference in Santa Fe, N.M.
In another article about the conference, Main Justice reports on the J. Michael Bradford Award.
Ken Sorenson said he was “speechless” when former District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens called to tell him on behalf of NAFUSA he’d won the J. Michael Bradford award. He thanked the organization for “thinking about the guys out there in the trenches.”
Sorenson won the Award for his prosecution of a military technology espionage case. Main Justice has the details.
Main Justice, which covers insider news about the Department of Justice, kicked off its coverage of NAFUSA’s Santa Fe conference with a podcast interview of incoming NAFUSA President Richard H. Deane, Jr. In addition, a second podcast interview of NAFUSA Membership Chair Jack Selden has been added.
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