Alice S. Fisher

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Fisher was nominated March 29, 2005, and her nomination was sent to the Senate April 4, 2005. Her nomination was stalled over interrogation tactics at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval facility. She was confirmed by the senate on September 19, 2006. [cite journal | author = U.S. Congress | year = 2006 | month = 19 September | title = Executive Session | journal = Congressional Record | volume = 152 | issue = 117 | pages = S9699–S9714 | url = http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2006_record&page=D986&position=all | accessdate = 2006-11-22]

Fisher "had a substantive law firm career, and she worked for two years in the Criminal Division overseeing the Department’s prosecutions in the high-profile areas of counterterrorism and corporate fraud. She [had] also been a long-time protégé of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff," Vermont Senator Patrick J. Leahy said [ [http://www.senate.gov/comm/judiciary/general/member_statement.cfm?id=1500&wit_id=2629 "Statement of Senator Patrick J. Leahy: Hearing for Nominees to be Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs"] - May 12, 2005] in his May 12, 2005, statement. "I am somewhat concerned, however, that Ms. Fisher is nominated for one of the most visible prosecutorial positions in the country without ever having prosecuted a case, and she brings to the position minimal trial experience in any context," he said.

Leahy also expressed concerns about Fisher's "views on checks of controversial provisions of the Patriot Act and her opposition to the Act’s sunset provision; her participation in meetings in which the FBI expressed its disagreement with harsh interrogation methods practiced by the military toward detainees held at Guantanamo, and her ideas about appropriate safeguards for the treatment of enemy combatants." Leahy was also concerned about "reports that she has had ties to Congressman Tom DeLay’s defense team" and "also [wanted] to know what steps she [intended] to take to avoid a conflict of interest in the Department’s investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and possibly Mr. DeLay."

Nomination

"The President intends to nominate Alice S. Fisher, of Virginia, to be Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Division) at the Department of Justice. Ms. Fisher is currently a Partner with Latham & Watkins, LLP. She previously served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. Earlier in her career, Ms. Fisher served as Deputy Special Counsel to the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development and Related Matters. She earned her bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and her J.D. from The Catholic University of America." -- [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050329-2.html Personnel Announcement] , White House, March 29, 2005.]

Troubled Confirmation

"Democrats said their hesitation over Fisher's nomination was driven not by politics but by concerns over her possible role in overseeing detention policies at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. They are seeking access to an F.B.I. agent who wrote an e-mail message in May 2004 about weekly Justice Department meetings to discuss military interrogation tactics that they felt did not produce reliable intelligence," Eric Lichtblau wrote [Eric Lichtblau, [http://www.christusrex.org/www1/news/nyt-8-16-05c.html "Tension Builds Between F.B.I. and Congress,"] "New York Times" (christusrex.org), August 15, 2005.] in the August 15, 2005, "New York Times".

"The unnamed agent said that several senior officials, including Ms. Fisher, who was the second-ranking official in the criminal division, attended meetings with the F.B.I.

"But Justice Department officials said Democrats were misreading the memorandum, and they quoted the F.B.I. agent in a follow-up discussion as saying he did not recall any meetings with Ms. Fisher at which the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay was discussed. Ms. Fisher and the Justice Department say she never took part in such meetings," Lichtblau wrote.

Fisher, then working at the law firm of Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C., where she was a partner, was awaiting Senate confirmation of her nomination.

Senator Arlen Specter said "in the interview on Friday [August 12, 2005,] that he had concerns about the depth of criminal prosecution experience at the top of the Justice Department after the departure of" Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, who left in August 2005 to be Lockheed Martin's new general counsel. Comey had been "a veteran prosecutor in Manhattan."

"Judiciary Committee members said that for the first time in memory, none of the most senior officials at the Justice Department" -- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Timothy E. Flanigan, Robert D. McCallum, Jr., or Alice Fisher -- "would have experience as a criminal prosecutor," Lichtblau wrote.

Fisher is unique as the head of the U.S. DOJ's Criminal Division -- she is the first Criminal Division AAG who has never tried a criminal case during her career. In fact, Fisher never appeared in court on a criminal case prior to her appointment as Assistant Attorney General. To this day, AAG Fisher has never appeared in court on behalf of the United States in a criminal matter.

References

External links

*Ken Thomas, [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/02/bypassing_senate_president_appoints_a_top_justice_official?mode=PF "Bypassing Senate, president appoints a top Justice official,"] Associated Press ("Boston Globe"), September 2, 2005.