Most U.S. attorneys make so many enemies it hurts their political futures

U.S. Attorney Mahlon Brown ran for attorney general in 1982 but lost. U.S. Attorney Howard Babcock (1958-1961) became a district judge in 1966 and served until his death in 1986. He’s the only one who comes to mind who parlayed the job into an elected position.

Frankly, if they do their jobs right, most U.S. attorneys make so many enemies it hurts their political futures.

Las Vegas attorney Larry Semenza was Nevada’s U.S. attorney from 1975 through 1977. He was an assistant in the office for four years before that. When he was named U.S. attorney in 1975, he was 32, the youngest U.S. attorney in the country. Semenza knows a little something about the transitioning of U.S. attorneys when the party in the White Houses changes.

Semenza was a Republican nominated by Sen. Paul Laxalt and appointed by President Ford. When Democratic President Jimmy Carter won in 1976, there was no real rush to dump Semenza.

It was nothing like the forcing of eight (oops, now it’s nine) U.S. attorneys out mid-term by the Bush administration to give the Republican farm team a chance to shine.

“It was a different era,” Semenza recalled. “U.S. attorneys, even assistant U.S. attorneys, knew they were never going to be there forever.”

Before his own appointment, Semenza worked under three U.S. attorneys: Bart Schouweiler, Joe Ward and DeVoe Heaton. With Heaton’s backing, Semenza sought and won the job. But in 1976, Carter won the election. Semenza received a polite Teletype asking if he had a desire to continue. Semenza replied he was very busy and would like to continue to wrap up some cases.

While he did that, the White House and Sen. Howard Cannon, the senior Democrat in the Nevada delegation, started talking about Semenza’s replacement. Democrats Mahlon Brown and Richard Wright were the frontrunners, and ultimately Brown was named and confirmed.

Semenza was asked a second time by White House officials when it might be a good time for him to resign, and he asked if he could remain on the job until after brothel owner Joe Conforte was sentenced for failing to pay employee payroll taxes for Mustang Ranch employees, a case Semenza had himself prosecuted.The White House honored that request, and on Dec. 2, 1977, Semenza resigned in a letter to President Carter.

Carter replied with a letter thanking Semenza for his service and wishing him the best in his future.

It was a transition with grace and style.

More graceful than when President Clinton in March 1993 asked for the resignations of all 93 U.S. attorneys. Certainly more graceful than the Pearl Harbor Day calls that went out last December firing U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden and six others.

Semenza finds it odd the Bush administration didn’t have replacements in line to fill the jobs of these ousted U.S. attorneys, the top federal prosecutors in their respective states. “At any time, you know your term can be over, but you hope it’s for the right reasons, not the crazy reason,” Semenza said. “Personally, I think it was handled in an unprofessional manner, not befitting the position of a U.S. attorney. After six years, this administration could have developed some sophistication in its handling of U.S. attorneys.”

Despite his Republican roots, Semenza described presidential advisers Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as “mean-spirited, deceitful individuals.” The problems with the nine U.S. attorneys, he said, emanates from their political agenda.

Semenza recalled that during his first interview with Laxalt, the senator said he hoped Semenza would consider running for office after his term ended. “I did consider it,” Semenza laughed. “But I thought better of it.”

In recent years, the job hasn’t been a stepping-stone for Democrats or Republicans.

Brown didn’t win the attorney general’s job. Democrat Kathryn Landreth never ran after her term ended. Republican Lamond Mills re-entered private practice.

Looks like all this effort to groom a Republican farm team for higher office was for naught, at least in Nevada.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.