who was acting attorney general before barr

by Winnifred Kunze V 8 min read

Matthew Whitaker
Preceded byJeff Sessions
Succeeded byWilliam Barr
Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General
In office September 22, 2017 – November 7, 2018
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How did William Barr become Attorney General?

Barr was approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee, was confirmed by voice vote by the full Senate, and was sworn in as Attorney General on November 26, 1991. During his first tenure as AG, media characterized Barr as "a staunch conservative who rarely hesitates to put his hardline views into action".

Who is Attorney General Barr's wife?

"Attorney General Barr accuses Hollywood, Big Tech of collaborating with China". Reuters. Retrieved December 18, 2020. ^ Lucas, Ryan (July 16, 2020). "Barr Blasts Hollywood, Big Tech For 'Kowtowing' To China". NPR. ^ Dwilson, Stephanie Dube (January 15, 2019). "Christine Moynihan Barr, William Barr's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".

Is Attorney General Barr targeting violent crime in a campaign year?

"Attorney General Barr, Targeting Violent Crime, Comes on Like Gangbusters in a Campaign Year". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020.

Who has Attorney General William Barr pardoned?

Under Barr's advice, President George H. W. Bush in 1992 pardoned six officials involved in the Iran–Contra affair . Barr became attorney general for the second time in 2019.

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Who was attorney general before Barr?

William BarrPresidentDonald TrumpDeputyRod Rosenstein Ed O'Callaghan (acting) Jeffrey A. RosenPreceded byJeff SessionsSucceeded byMerrick Garland30 more rows

Who is the former attorney general?

California Former Attorneys GeneralMatthew Rodriguez2021 – 2021Kamala D. Harris2010 – 2017Edmund G. Brown, Jr.2007 – 2011Bill Lockyer1999 – 2007Daniel E. Lungren1991 – 199929 more rows

Where is Jeffrey Rosen now?

In May 2019 he moved to the Department of Justice as deputy attorney general, and from December 24, 2020, to January 20, 2021, as acting attorney general. As of July 2021 he is a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Who was the attorney general under Washington?

George Washington - AdministrationFirst LadyMartha WashingtonAttorney GeneralEdmund Randolph (1789–1794)Attorney GeneralWilliam Bradford (1794–1795)Attorney GeneralCharles Lee (1795–1797)Postmaster GeneralSamuel Osgood (1789–1791)11 more rows

Who was the Attorney General in the 1980s?

25, 1985 – August 12, 1988: Edwin Meese, a Republican from California, was appointed U.S. attorney general by President Ronald Reagan.

Who is the acting Attorney General of the United States?

General Merrick B. GarlandMeet the Attorney General Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was sworn in as the 86th Attorney General of the United States on March 11, 2021.

Who is the district attorney for Santa Clara County?

Attorney Jeff RosenSanta Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen won reelection without a runoff Tuesday, even though he faced two challengers: Sajid Khan, a deputy public defender running to Rosen's left, and deputy DA Daniel Chung, who cast himself as a tougher prosecutor.

Who was Washington's right hand man?

Hamilton fought with honor in the Revolutionary War Through his efforts as a volunteer, young Hamilton became General George Washington's aide de camp, or his right-hand man.

Who was apart of George Washington's cabinet?

George Washington's cabinet included four original members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

Who was the first attorney general under President George Washington?

Randolph had handled much of President Washington's personal legal work, and Washington appointed him as the first Attorney General of the United States in 1789 and then as Secretary of State in 1794.

Who was the acting attorney general for Mueller?

With the resignation of Sessions on November 7, 2018, Whitaker was appointed to serve as Acting Attorney General under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. In that position, he directly supervised Robert Mueller 's Special Counsel investigation, which had previously been supervised by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in his role as Acting Attorney General, due to the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

When did Whitaker become Attorney General?

During the months prior to joining the Justice Department as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff in September 2017, Whitaker made several statements critical of the Mueller investigation, of which he assumed oversight responsibility upon being appointed Acting Attorney General in November 2018.

What did Whitaker say about the courts?

Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the decision that allows judicial review of the constitutionality of the acts of the other branches of government, and several other Supreme Court holdings. When Whitaker later became acting Attorney General four years later, Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe commented on Whita ker's views that "the overall picture he presents would have virtually no scholarly support", and that they would be "'destabilizing' to society if he used the power of the attorney general to advance them".

Who replaced Jody Hunt?

On September 22, 2017, a Justice Department official announced that Sessions was appointing Whitaker to replace Jody Hunt as his chief of staff. George J. Terwilliger III, a former U.S. attorney and deputy attorney general, said in his role as chief of staff, Whitaker would have dealt daily with making "substantive choices about what is important to bring to the AG".

Why did Whitaker join Trump's legal team?

Trump saw Whitaker's supportive commentaries on CNN in the summer of 2017, and in July White House counsel Don McGahn interviewed Whitaker to join Trump's legal team as an "attack dog" against Robert Mueller, who was heading the Special Counsel investigation. Trump associates believe Whitaker was later hired to limit the fallout of the investigation, including by reining in any Mueller report and preventing Trump from being subpoenaed. On November 13, a DOJ spokesperson said that Whitaker would seek advice from ethics officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) about whether a recusal from overseeing the Russia investigation was warranted.

Who is the 85th Attorney General of the United States?

The 85th and current United States Attorney General is William Barr, appointed by President Donald J. Trump. Similarly, who are the past attorney generals? Attorneys General of the United States.

Who was the last attorney general?

Keeping this in consideration, who was the last US attorney general? Who was attorney general before Barr? Matthew George Whitaker (born October 29, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting United States Attorney General from November 7, 2018, to February 14, 2019.

Early life

Rosen was born to a Jewish family in Boston and grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1979 after serving as president of the student council his third and final year of college.

Career

Rosen joined Kirkland & Ellis in 1982. He left the firm in 2003 and began working for the U.S. government.

When was Barr appointed as Attorney General?

In May 1990 , Barr was appointed Deputy Attorney General, the official responsible for day-to-day management of the Department. According to media reports, Barr was generally praised for his professional management of the Department.

Who appointed William Barr?

Upon leaving the DOJ in 1993, Barr was appointed by Virginia Governor George Allen to co-chair a commission to implement tougher criminal justice policies and abolish parole in the state. Barr has been described as a "leader of the parole-abolition campaign" in Virginia.

How much money did Barr give to the NRSC?

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) financially assists Republicans in their Senate election contests; in the seven years from 2009 to 2016, Barr gave six donations to the NRSC totaling $85,400. In a five-month period from October 2018 to February 2019, Barr donated five times (around $10,000 every month) for a total of $51,000. When Barr started donating more frequently to the NRSC, it was uncertain whether then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions would remain in his job. Barr continued donating even after Sessions resigned, and after Trump nominated Barr for Attorney General. The donations stopped after Barr was confirmed by the Senate as Attorney General. NRSC refunded Barr $30,000 before his confirmation. Previously in 2017, Barr had said he felt "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party."

Why did Barr say Hollywood censors its own movies?

In July 2020, Barr condemned large American tech companies, such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple, and Hollywood studios, accusing them of "kowtowing" to the Chinese Communist Party for the sake of profits. He said that "Hollywood now regularly censors its own movies to appease the Chinese Communist Party, the world's most powerful violator of human rights."

Why does Barr support the death penalty?

Barr supports the death penalty, arguing that it reduces crime. He advocated a Bush-backed bill that would have expanded the types of crime that could be punished by execution. In a 1991 op-ed in The New York Times, Barr argued that death row inmates' ability to challenge their sentences should be limited to avoid cases dragging on for years: "This lack of finality devastates the criminal justice system. It diminishes the deterrent effect of state criminal laws, saps state prosecutorial resources and continually reopens the wounds of victims and survivors."

What was Barr's first tenure?

During his first tenure as AG, media characterized Barr as "a staunch conservative who rarely hesitates to put his hardline views into action". He was described as affable with a dry, self-deprecating wit. The New York Times described the "central theme" of his tenure to be "his contention that violent crime can be reduced only by expanding Federal and state prisons to jail habitual violent offenders". In an effort to prioritize violent crime, Barr reassigned three hundred FBI agents from counterintelligence work to investigations of gang violence. The New York Times called this move "the largest single manpower shift in the bureau's history".

Why did Barr advocate for Guantanamo Bay?

He also advocated the use of Guantanamo Bay to prevent Haitian refugees and HIV infected individuals from claiming asylum in the United States. According to Vox in December 2018, Barr supported an aggressive "law and order" agenda on immigration as Attorney General in the Bush Administration.

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Overview

Matthew George Whitaker (born October 29, 1969) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and politician who served as the acting United States Attorney General from November 7, 2018, to February 14, 2019. He was appointed to that position by President Donald Trump after Jeff Sessions resigned at Trump's request. Whitaker had previously served as Chief of Staff to Sessions from October 201…

Early life, education, and college football career

Matthew George Whitaker was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 29, 1969. He graduated from Ankeny High School, where he was a football star. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Whitaker attended the University of Iowa, receiving a bachelor's degree in communications in 1991 and Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor degrees in 1995.

Career

After graduating from law school, Whitaker lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1995 to 2001, before moving back to Iowa.
Whitaker worked for a number of regional law firms, including Briggs & Morgan (Minneapolis) and Finley Alt Smith (Des Moines), and he was corporate counsel for national grocery store chain SuperValu in Minneapolis. He also owned or co …

Legal and policy views

Whitaker stated in a question-and-answer session during his 2014 Iowa Senatorial campaign that "the courts are supposed to be the inferior branch". Whitaker was critical of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the decision that allows judicial review of the constitutionality of the acts of the other branches of government, and several other Supreme Court holdings. When Whitaker later became acting Attorney General four years later, Harvard La…

Writings

• Above the Law: The Inside Story of How the Justice Department Tried to Subvert President Trump. Regnery Publishing. 2020. ISBN 978-1684510498.

See also

• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (July–December 2018)