Timothy Griffin
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John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968), the current interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. He received attention in the 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy when he was chosen to replace US Attorney Bud Cummins.
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[edit] Personal
Griffin was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was raised in Magnolia, Arkansas. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with his wife Elizabeth.
[edit] Early career
Griffin was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a 1990 graduate of Hendrix College, and 1994 law school graduate of Tulane University.
Griffin worked from September 1995 to January 1997 with Special Prosecutor David Barrett and his investigation of former Secretary of HUD, Henry Cisneros.
In September of 1999 he was Deputy Research Director for the Republican National Committee (for Bush's election campaign) and during that stint was a legal advisor for the "Bush-Cheney 2000 Florida Recount Team" (see Bush v. Gore).
For two years after that he was Senior Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Government Reform.
From March 2001 through June 2002 he was Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff. He then left to become Research Director and Deputy Communications Director for Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.
From September 2005 through September 2006 he worked at the White House as Karl Rove's aide, with the title of Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director in the Office of Political Affairs.[1]
Griffin has served in the United States Army Reserve since at least 1997, serving as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) and attained the rank of Major. From May through August 2006 he served as JAG in Mosul, Iraq.
[edit] US Attorney appointment
- See also: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
On December 15, 2006, the Justice Department announced that Tim Griffin would be appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Incumbent U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins resigned five days later on December 20th.
Griffin's appointment sparked some controversy. Before a 2006 revision to the PATRIOT Act, U.S. Attorneys were nominated by the Attorney General for confirmation by the Senate. In practice, this led to Senators having some influence over the appointment of attorneys in their district. Griffin was among the first group of attorneys directly appointed by the Attorney General without requiring Senate approval, which angered Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor among others.[2]
Documents released by a subsequent Congressional investigation showed that, in the summer of 2006, White House "officials were eager to free up the prosecutor's slot in Little Rock, Ark., so it could be filled by Timothy Griffin, a GOP operative close to White House political advisor Karl Rove, at all costs."[3] Prior to this he was a top Republican researcher and aide to Rove.[4] He was hand selected by Rove to be a US Attorney.[5]
On March 14, 2007 the Arkansas Leader wrote about Griffin his "resignation or dismissal ought to be imminent".[6]
[edit] Miscellaneous
In the 2004 election Griffin, according to BBC Television, targeted 70,000 citizens for extra scrutiny and challenges.[7] According to White House emails, "many of those challenged votes were concentrated in black precincts".[8]
[edit] References
- ^ http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/DOJDocsPt2-8070319.pdf Griffin's resume, DOJ emails released to the Senate Judiciary Committee, p.15
- ^ Satter, Linda. "Prosecutor post is filled in recess", Arkansas Democrat Gazette, December 16, 2006. Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
- ^ Serrano, Richard. "E-mails detail White House tactics behind firings", Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2007. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
- ^ "E-mails lay out plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys", CNN, March 14, 2007. Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
- ^ Sadler, Adam. "Pryor joins Democratic chorus in bashing attorney general", Arkansas Washington Bureau, March 15, 2007. Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
- ^ Dumas, Ernie. "U.S. attorney scandal widens", Arkansas Leader, March 14, 2007. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
- ^ Palast, Greg. "Bush's New US Attorney a Criminal?", Baltimore Chronicle, March 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
- ^ "White House emails (see page 2)", White House, March 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
