LAW—Republican Lawyers Jockey to Replace U.S. Attorney

0

If history is any indication, and it usually is, Alejandro N. Mayorkas will soon be replaced as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

And that prospect has tongues wagging in local legal circles about who President Bush will likely tap to be the next U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles.

Among the names being bandied about are Gordon Greenberg, Stephen Mansfield, Mark Holscher, Thomas Holliday and Debra Yang.

White House spokesman Ken Lasiaus declined to comment on whether Mayorkas would, in fact, be replaced or when an announcement on the issue would be made.

“We have no established protocol for when or how these decisions will be made. We will make them when we make them,” he said.

Mayorkas declined to comment about his expected ouster, but speculation has been mounting that a new appointment will be made soon when Bush decides which, if any, of the nation’s 93 U.S attorneys he will retain.

Mayorkas, who was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California by President Clinton, has come under fire in recent weeks for his involvement in the pardon of convicted cocaine trafficker Carlos Vignali. Mayorkas revealed earlier this month that he had called the White House counsel’s office about the Vignali case, at the request of Vignali’s father, a wealthy donor to local political candidates.

The younger Vignali, who was convicted of conspiracy to transport more than 800 pounds of cocaine within the United States, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1994, but was released after Clinton commuted his sentence on Jan 20.

Mayorkas has since publicly apologized for his actions in the Vignali case, calling them a “serious mistake.”

Recommendations for the top federal prosecutorial posts are typically forwarded to the president by a state’s senior senator, in this case Sen. Dianne Feinstein. But since Feinstein and California’s junior senator, Sen. Barbara Boxer, are both Democrats, several former U.S. Attorneys said U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Newport Beach, and other senior-ranking Republicans would likely play a major role in the nomination process.

Cox did not return repeated calls for comment, but Feinstein’s spokesman, Howard Gantman, said the Senator has been in “preliminary discussions” with the Bush administration about when and how all the judicial and prosecutorial appointments will be handled in California.

“So far there are no agreements about who will be playing a role in the selection process, but since Sen. Feinstein is on the Judicial Committee, and since all key judicial and prosecutorial appointments go through the committee, she will be playing a role in the process,” he said.

Among the leading candidates, Mansfield is a partner in the L.A. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld; Holscher is a partner at O’Melveny & Myers; Holliday is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Yang is an L.A. Superior Court judge; and Greenberg is an associate in the L.A. office of McDermott, Will & Emory.

Greenberg said a nominating committee has not officially been set up and that the naming of Mayorkas’ replacement, if there is one, could be weeks or even months away.

No posts to display