Directors Meet with AG Merrick Garland

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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.

 

 

 

Death of Emily Sweeney

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Sadly, NAFUSA has lost another of its former members. Emily Sweeney, who
served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 1993
to 2003, passed away on July 31, 2023.

Emily had a full and distinguished career with the Department of Justice. She
began as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the civil division of the U.S. Attorneys Office
in the Northern District of Ohio after graduating from the Marshall College of Law
in Cleveland. She became the first Asset Forfeiture Chief in that district and also
served as the Appellate Chief. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton, Senate
confirmed and sworn in as U.S. Attorney in 1993.

During her tenure as U.S. Attorney, Emily served as the head of the Management
and Budget Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC).
During her time as chair of that committee, she was proud of being able to help
secure more positions for U.S. Attorney Offices across the country, including her
own, as the need for additional resources grew.

Emily especially enjoyed the management aspects of being U.S. Attorney. She
loved and trusted the people in her office and earned their loyalty and respect.
She worked hard to get them the resources they needed, and, for nearly 20 years,
she regularly lunched with her office family. She was a great boss.

She is survived by her daughter, Margaret, who is an AUSA in the office her
mother once headed, and two much beloved grandchildren, Elliott and Penny.

As is custom, a flag was flown over the Department of Justice in her honor, boxed
with a plaque by NAFUSA, and presented to her daughter. Expressions of
condolence can be sent to Margaret and her family at 373 Belmar Blvd., Avon
Lake, Ohio 44012.

Loretta Lynch to Lead review of Northwestern Athletic Department

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Former U.S. Attorney General, and NAFUSA member, Loretta Lynch will lead an
independent review of Northwestern University’s athletic department processes
and culture. Ms. Lynch, who is currently with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind,
Wharton & Garrison, will lead the review of the university’s accountability
mechanisms in place to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct in its
athletic department, including hazing, bullying and discrimination. The review will
include feedback from faculty, staff, students and alumni and the results will be
made public, according to Northwestern.

The University has faced criticism over alleged hazing within the football program,
including claims of sexual abuse. Several former players filed lawsuits accusing the
school of negligence. Longtime Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was
fired three weeks before former Attorney General Lynch was enlisted to lead the
independent review.

Ms. Lynch was appointed as U.S. Attorney General by former President Barack
Obama in 2015 and served until 2017. Prior to that she served as U.S. Attorney for
the Eastern District of New York from 1999 to 2001 under former President Bill
Clinton and from 2010 to 2015 under former President Obama.

EOUSA Director Monty Wilkinson Retires

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Monty Wilkinson, most recently Director of the Executive Office for United States
Attorneys (EOUSA), retired on June 30, 2023, after serving most of his career with
the Department of Justice. Mr. Wilkinson, who had previously served as Director
of EOUSA from 2014-2017, and prior to that as its Principal Deputy Director and
Chief of Staff, was reappointed EOUSA Director by Attorney General Merrick
Garland on March 14, 2021. EOUSA provides executive and administrative support
for the 93 United States Attorneys.

After graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1988, Mr.
Wilkinson served as a law clerk to Eric Holder, then a judge of the Superior Court
of the District of Columbia. He began his career with the Department of Justice in
1990 as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division. He went on to work as Special
Counsel and Spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and
continued to serve in senior management positions in that office before becoming
an Associate Deputy Attorney General in 1997. During his career with the DOJ, he
served as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, as the
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration, as
well as the Acting Attorney General from January 20, 2021 until March 11, 2021,
when Attorney General Garland was sworn in.

Former Director Wilkinson’s friends, including his many friends in NAFUSA, expect
him to spend time with family, travel and play a lot of golf!

Looking Back-The NAFUSA Early Years

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memo

Marti Robinson found the attached picture in her husband Jim’s papers and sent it
and the accompanying memo to former NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.
As many of you remember, former NAFUSA President Jim Robinson died 13 years
ago on August 6, 2010. A Michigan native, he went on to become, among other
prestigious positions, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division from
1998 to 2001.

Although the actual date of the picture is unknown, it is believed to be from an
early NAFUSA conference. (Do you know?) The accompanying cover note to Bill
Gray’s son, Joshua, identifies some of those pictured, including long time NAFUSA
member Attorney General Thornburg and the Robinsons, among others. Bill Gray,
U.S. Attorney for Vermont from 1975-1977 under President Carter, was an early
NAFUSA president.

Many thanks to Marti Robinson and Rich Rossman for sharing this piece of
NAFUSA history.

If you have any early (earlier) photos from NAFUSA gatherings, please consider sharing them with us.

Rosie Hidalgo Sworn in as Director of the Office on Violence Against Women

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For the first time since 2012, the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) has a
Senate-confirmed Director. The Senate confirmed Rosie Hidalgo on July 11, 2023,
in a bipartisan vote. As Director, she will lead the Department’s principal efforts in
confronting gender-based crimes. Prior to this appointment, Hidalgo served as a
special assistant to President Biden and senior advisor on gender-based violence
at the White House Gender Policy Council. She previously held a position at OVW
as Deputy Director of Policy from 2014-2017 and is also a former director of public
policy for Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and
Communities, a national resource center focused on providing training, research,
and policy advocacy to prevent and end domestic violence and sexual assault.

OVW provides federal leadership to reduce violence against women and
administer justice for and strengthen services to survivors of domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. It oversees more than $700 million
annually for grant programs authorized under the Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA).

Paul Coggins Elected President of NAFUSA Foundation

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The NAFUSA Foundation board has elected Paul Coggins as the next president. Coggins was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 1993 to 2001. During his time as U.S. Attorney, he served twice on the Attorney General’s Advisory Council and in 1998 as its vice chair. He was elected president of NAFUSA in 2019. He is currently the co-head of the White Collar and Government Investigations group at Locke Lord. Coggins, a graduate of Yale University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, is a published author, currently at work on his Cash McCahill series of mysteries. Most recently, he was invited to speak at Oxford University on balancing careers in law and writing.

The NAFUSA Board recently designated Coggins and Bill Lutz as directors of the NAFUSA Foundation. They join ex-officio members Chuck Stevens, John Richter and Donna Bucella as directors on the foundation board.

Coggins praised the work of former foundation president, Ed Dowd, and called him a hard act to follow. Dowd served as the foundation president since 2019. Under Dowd’s leadership, the foundation awarded scholarships to unpaid law student interns who have performed outstanding work while interning at U.S. Attorney’s Offices and in the Department of Justice.

Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General meet with U.S. Attorneys on Violent Crime

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On June 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, along with DOJ law enforcement heads from DEA, FBI, ATF and the USMS, met with all 93 U.S. Attorneys to discuss the DOJ’s summer anti-violent crime strategy. The meeting followed up the Department-wide strategy launched two years ago to leverage federal resources, including grant programs and federal law enforcement, with state and local partners to combat violent crime.

In his remarks, the Attorney General announced the upcoming launch of the third phase of the U.S. Marshals Operation North Star aimed at locating and arresting fugitives charged with the highest levels of violence. Additionally, he announced that the DEA will be launching the third phase of Operation Overdrive. The first two phases resulted in the seizure of over 13 million deadly doses of fentanyl and 1300 illegal guns as well as over 1700 arrests. The AG also described efforts by the ATF to use its powerful ballistic tools to generate leads on violent criminals from evidence collected at crime scenes. In the last year these tools produced nearly 200,000 leads.

In the meeting with U.S. Attorneys, the AG and DAG discussed the Department’s strategy, which includes providing resources to communities across the country through DOJ grant making components. The Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services are anticipated to award over $1.3 billion to support state and local law enforcement efforts to combat violent crime.

The Attorney General applauded the work of DOJ prosecutors who have prosecuted more than 6000 individuals for violent crimes so far in 2023.

Looking ahead to NAFUSA Conference 2024

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Although it’s been barely two months since NAFUSA members enjoyed a successful conference in beautiful Half Moon Bay, California, we are already looking forward to Conference 2024. As previously announced, the Board of Directors voted to return the annual conferences to the fall of the year as was traditional prior to the pandemic. Consequently, the next conference will be held in the fall of 2024. Please mark your calendars for September 25 -27, 2024!

Those who were unable to join us in Half Moon Bay missed the announcement by newly elected president John Richter about the location of NAFUSA’s 2024 annual conference. The next venue became apparent to all when John presented each Board member present, including the newly elected directors, with a ball cap emblazoned “OKC.” NAFUSA will be heading to Oklahoma City in 2024.

Although the conference is many months away, planning is already well underway. We have contracted with a unique and historic hotel, the National, which is in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City, within walking distance of great restaurants, conveniently located near desirable OKC destinations, and just ten minutes from Will Rogers International Airport. The National is a Marriott Autograph Collection managed property and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel is located in the First National Center, a 32-story building which originally opened in 1931 as an iconic bank and landmark monument. The National comprises the first eight floors of the historic building and opened in April 2022 catering to business travelers and those interested in historic stays. Be prepared to see original murals and bank vault doors, many shops, restaurants, and bars, as well as the Library of Distilled Spirits located in the building’s famous bank vault.

Stay tuned for more information about the OKC conference in the months ahead.