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).

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.

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.

NAFUSA Board member Barbara McQuade has written a new book, Attack from
Within, about the impact of disinformation on America, The book is set to be
released on February 24, 2024. According to pre-publishing information, Ms.
McQuade writes that America is under attack and the weapon is misinformation.
Her book explores how authoritarians throughout history have manipulated the
truth to advance their own agendas and how disinformation is impacting our
democracy.

Ms. McQuade, currently a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law
School, her alma mater, was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
Michigan from 2010 to 2017, the first woman to hold that position. She currently
sits on the NAFUSA Board of Directors as a member of the class of 2025. In
addition to being a law professor, she is also a legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC.

Attack from Within is Ms. McQuade’s first book and has already received glowing
reviews. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. described her book as
“…a compelling work about a challenge that–left unexamined and left
unchecked—could undermine our democracy.”

As its members know, NAFUSA was founded in March 1979, as a non-profit, by a
handful of former United States Attorneys with a stated purpose to “promote,
defend and further the integrity and the preservation of the litigating authority
and independence of the office of the United States Attorney…” Its first president
was co-founder Bill Mulligan, a Carter appointee from the Eastern District of
Wisconsin.

Since that time, NAFUSA has grown in numbers and to be a more diverse
organization reflecting the appointments made by the presidential administrations
and Attorneys General in the intervening years. We now have over 370 members
and continue to grow. While the chance to reconnect with former Department of
Justice (DOJ) colleagues, to obtain continuing legal education hours in beautiful
venues with great camaraderie, and to develop business opportunities remain
motivating factors for new membership, the founding principles remain the same.
NAFUSA continues to be a great value and a dynamic organization.

With every presidential election cycle, we see an influx of new members. The
largest “class” of former U.S. Attorneys to become NAFUSA members in number,
so far, are from the George W. Bush administration of whom there are currently
81 members. Following closely behind are members representing the Trump
administration with 80 members. The newest member is from the Biden
administration along with 3 others from that administration to date. There are 68
former Obama administration U.S. Attorneys, 52 from the Clinton administration
and 40 NAFUSA members from the Reagan administration. Former George Bush
administration appointees number 24 and there are 20 from the Carter
administration. Finally, we have nine NAFUSA members from the Ford
administration, eight from the Nixon administration and two from the Johnson
administration. What amazing history is reflected in our membership!

Our members include not only former U. S. Attorneys, but also FBI Directors Bob
Mueller and Chris Wray, and former Attorneys General, Deputy Attorneys General
and other high ranking DOJ officials. One of the first Attorney General members
was Dick Thornburg, who served under President Reagan.

We look forward to welcoming new members from all administrations and seeing
them at our annual conferences!

The current NAFUSA officers and directors met in Washington, D.C. on September
6-7, for their semi-annual Board of Directors meeting. The event was hosted by
King & Spalding, of which NAFUSA President John Richter is a partner, at their
impressive offices on Pennsylvania Avenue. Sixteen directors and staff attended in
person and were treated to amazing views of the Washington Monument from
the penthouse conference room, while several members took advantage of video
conferencing to participate.

The financial report presented by the Executive Director included a summary of
the success of the NAFUSA 2023 conference in Half Moon Bay, California, (HMB)
last April. There were just under 240 registered attendees at the HMB conference,
a record attendance. There was also a record amount of sponsorship money
donated with 30 sponsors contributing a total of $262,500, including a very
generous donation from Guidepost Solutions for the Wednesday night reception.
The feedback about the conference, the programming and the beautiful location
was overwhelmingly positive.

There was considerable discussion of ways to increase NAFUSA membership, both
by recruiting new members from the current administration as they leave office
and by identifying former United States Attorneys who might be receptive to
learning about the many advantages of NAFUSA membership. One of those
advantages is, of course, ability to attend NAFUSA’s annual conferences. In
fact, planning is well underway for the next conference to be held in Oklahoma
City on September 25-27, 2024. As previously reported, the conference will be
held in a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel – the National – which is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. NAFUSA will have the entire hotel for its
conference! A conference committee was formed at the board meeting, and ideas
and suggestions are always welcome.

At the conclusion of the business portion of the meeting, FBI Director, and lifetime
NAFUSA member, Chris Wray joined the group for informal remarks and a lively
question-and-answer session. After joking that it was a pleasure to be invited to
speak to a friendly audience, Director Wray spoke for several minutes about the
challenges facing the men and women of the FBI, as well as the often-under-reported successes that have been achieved. He also talked about FBI successes in
identifying and preventing domestic terrorism, and on the importance and
difficulty in detecting and preventing international cyber-attacks. The FBI has been
increasing its ranks of technology and cyber experts to address this threat.
Director Wray concluded by describing positive developments regarding FISA and
how crucial the information is to counterterrorism efforts. He praised the internal
audit improvements the Bureau has made and added that the FBI is seeing
positive improvement in reporting by state and locals.

Following Director Wray, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram addressed the board
through video conferencing. Her remarks followed up on her presentation at the HMB
conference with the latest developments on the fentanyl epidemic and DEA’s
efforts to stem the alarming tide of fentanyl distribution and related deaths.
Among other efforts, she described new initiatives focused on two cartels who are
laundering money for Chinese fentanyl manufacturers impacted by the limits
placed by the Chinese government on cash leaving China. DEA has set up illicit
financing teams including IRS agents to target this activity. Administrator
described the integration of the Dept of Treasury into the money laundering focus
against fentanyl distribution as a “game changer.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland invited the NAFUSA officers and directors, who
were in Washington, D.C. for the fall board of directors meeting, to the
Department of Justice to meet with him and members of his staff. The AG hosted
the group in his conference room on Wednesday, September 6, preceding the
board meeting on Thursday.

The AG and members of his staff graciously took time to speak individually with
each of the fourteen NAFUSA members and staff present, several of whom were
familiar with AG Garland and/or had worked with him in the past. Later he
addressed the group with brief remarks, giving a nod to the dedicated employees
of the Department of Justice and their commitment to the rule of law during
challenging times. He was complimentary of NAFUSA and the opportunity it
provides for interaction with USAs from different administrations and districts. The
Attorney General also expressed a strong desire to have other opportunities to
engage with NAFUSA members.