Category Archives: Member News

Rossman Succeeds Woods as Executive Director

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On Saturday, October 1, at the concluding banquet in Santa Fe, Ron Woods stepped down as NAFUSA’s executive director. Ron completed four years as NAFUSA’s chief operating officer and received a standing ovation from the banquet audience as President Bill Lutz lauded Ron’s service and presented him with an iPad2 as a token of NAFUSA’s appreciation. During his term, the active membership grew from 86 to nearly 300, taking NAFUSA to a new level of professionalism and stature.

Ron was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. One of the most well known and well regarded lawyers in Texas, Ron also served four years as a Special Agent for the FBI. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.  He resides in Houston with his wife, Patty.

Rich Rossman succeeds Ron as NAFUSA’s executive director. Rich has been a member of NAFUSA for 30 years. He served as president in 2009-2010. He was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1980-1981, and also served as the chief of staff in the Criminal Division at Main Justice, 1998-1999. Rich retired from the active practice of law in 2007; he had been a partner at Pepper Hamilton for 23 years. Rich is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and lives in Michigan with his wife, Patty.

Todd Jones Named Acting Director of ATF

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U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota

On August 30, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder named NAFUSA member B. Todd Jones, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Jones assumed his duties at ATF on August 31. He will continue as U.S. Attorney.

President Barack Obama nominated Jones for the position of United States Attorney in 2009. President Bill Clinton had appointed him to the same position in 1998, and he served until 2001. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School. Jones has served in the United States Marine Corps.

Paul J. Fishman to Head AGAC

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U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey

Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. named Paul J. Fishman, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, as chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), effective September 7, 2011. Fishman succeeds B. Todd Jones, who has become the Acting Director of ATF.

Fishman has served as U.S. Attorney since his 2009 appointment by President Barack Obama. He has also served as the vice chair of the AGAC. From 1994-1997, Fishman served as a senior adviser to the Attorney General and to the Deputy Attorney General.

Fishman is a graduate of Harvard Law School where he was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He clerked for the Hon. Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Johnnie Mac Walters Authors Memoir

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NAFUSA Member Served in Nixon Administration

Long time NAFUSA member Johnnie Mac Walters has authored a book, Our Journey, describing his career during the Nixon Administration. He served as Assistant Attorney General (1969-1971) and as Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1971-1973).

As the book jacket describes,

In 1971 embattled President Richard M. Nixon sought to use the Internal Revenue Service as a weapon to investigate and punish his “enemies.” Tapes of White House conversations reveal that Nixon wanted as Commissioner “a ruthless son-of-a-bitch that he will do what he is told; that every income tax return I want to see I see; that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends.”

Attorney General John Mitchell recommended Assistant AG Johnnie Mac Walters. Apparently no one checked with Walters who was “shocked” when White House Counsel John Dean presented him with an “enemies list.” Walters resisted pressure from the White House and told Secretary of the Treasury George Schultz that he could “have my job anytime he wanted it.”

Walters earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He served in World War II in the U.S. Army Air Force as a navigator, flying fifty bombing missions. Walters is retired and lives in Greenville, South Carolina.

The book is available from the publisher, Stroud & Hall Publishers, P.O. Box 27210, Macon, GA 31221, 800-331-9133. The price is $20 plus mailing.