Michael Elston
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Michael James Elston (born February 7, 1969), a United States lawyer and political appointee in the administration of President George W. Bush, was the Chief of Staff & Counselor, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice. Elston on June 15, 2007 announced his resignation, effective 22 June 2007.[1]
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[edit] Personal
Elston grew up in Rockford, Illinois where he attended Rockford Auburn High School graduating in 1987. He received his undergraduate degree from Drake University in 1991, and a law degree from the Duke University School of Law where he graduated with high honors in 1994.[2]
[edit] Career
The Rockford Register Star in March 2007 profiled Elston's career. It states he "clerked for the Honorable Pasco M. Bowman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 1994 to 1996. From 1997 to 1999 he worked as an attorney on the staff of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy firm in Kansas City, Mo. While there, he argued and won a case involving prisoner rights before all 11 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In 1999, he was named Assistant U.S. attorney in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Rockford where he served until 2002. From there he moved to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and became Assistant U.S. Attorney; there he worked on the prosecutions of John Walker Lindh, the American who fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan; and Zacarias Moussaoui, the recently convicted al-Qaida operative who alternately claimed and denied a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. Since 2005, he has served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty."[2]
Elston also worked on early drafts of the Patriot Act[3]
[edit] Controversies
Elston helped carry out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and "was accused of threatening at least four of the eight fired U.S. attorneys to keep quiet about their ousters."[1] He was also accused of rejecting a large number of applicants to Justice Department positions because they were Democrats. Former U.S. Attorney John McKay of Seattle told Congress -before he left as U.S. Attorney for Seattle- that he had received a phone call from Elston that he "greatly resented." He said Elston attempted to "buy my silence by promising that the attorney general would not demean me in his Senate testimony." [4] Although Elston and his attorney deny these allegations, House Democratic Committee Chair John Conyers, upon hearing the news of Elston's departure from the Department to an "undisclosed" Washington law firm, stated the following: "When yet another significant player resigns in the U.S. attorney scandal, it only deepens the mystery of who targeted U.S. attorneys for firing, why they did it, and what exactly is going on in the highest reaches of the Justice Department and who is filling the vacuum of leadership that has developed there."
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Jordan, Lara Jakes; (Associated Press). "Official close to attorney firings quits", Boston Globe, June 16, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
- ^ a b "Profile: Michael Elston", Rockford Register Star, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
- ^ Alumni Views. Duke Law School. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
- ^ At Bush DoJ, Dems Need Not Apply.
[edit] Links
- Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein Justice Official to Quit, Elston Had Role in Prosecutor Firings The Washington Post, ,June 15, 2007.
- Jordan, Lara Jakes; (Associated Press). "Official close to attorney firings quits", Boston Globe, June 16, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
- Duke Law School, Alumni Views Comments by Elston on the Patriot Act
