Margaret Chiara

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Margaret M. Chiara is most notable for serving as United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, from 2001 until she was dismissed in the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy; her forced resignation was effective March 16, 2007. She was Michigan’s first female U.S. attorney

Chiara was associated with a private law firm in rural Cass County before becoming a prosecutor. For twelve years she was a teacher and educational administrator, with a masters in administration from Pace University and an undergraduate degree is from Fordham University. Her interest in education law and school finance reform led to Rutgers Law School.

Subsequently, she was twice elected Cass County prosecutor, and was the first woman elected to serve as president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM). Then in 1999, Ms. Chiara joined the staff of the Office of the Chief Justice at the Michigan Supreme Court.

Career as U.S. Attorney and dismissal

Main article: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy ( )
Articles
Timeline Summary of attorneys Documents Congressional hearings List of dismissed attorneys Complete list of related articles
G. W. Bush administration officials involved
Fred F. Fielding, White House Counsel William K. Kelley, Deputy White House Counsel William Moschella, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney, District of Utah, former counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania, former Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys from 2004 to 2005
Involved administration officials who resigned
Alberto Gonzales, United States Attorney General, former White House Counsel Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General Michael A. Battle, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General Monica Goodling, Justice Department's liaison to the White House William W. Mercer, U.S. Attorney, Acting Associate Attorney General (retains position as U.S. Attorney in Montana) Sara Taylor, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs Paul McNulty, Deputy Attorney General Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel (resigned prior to publicity surrounding the controversy, effective January 31, 2007) Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bradley Schlozman, Director Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; former Acting Assistant Attorney General for, and later Principal Deputy Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; former interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress
Patrick Leahy, Chair (D) Arlen Specter, Ranking member, former Chair (R) Chuck Schumer, Chair: Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts (D)
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress
John Conyers, Chair (D) Lamar Smith, Ranking member (R) Linda Sánchez, Chair: Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (D)

Ms. Chiara was nominated to the position of United States Attorney on September 4, 2001, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on October 23, 2001. On March 23, 2007, the New York Times reported that Chiara was told by a senior Justice Department official that she was being removed to make way for a new attorney that the Bush administration wanted to groom. “To say it was about politics may not be pleasant, but at least it is truthful,” Chiara said. “Poor performance was not a truthful explanation.”

AP reported that during her tenure, "the jurisdiction has seen a 15 percent increase in felony prosecutions and convictions. She developed an attorney training and mentoring program that now serves as a national model, her office said."

External links

• Official DOJ Biography of Margaret Chiara at the Wayback Machine (archived November 1, 2004), January 11, 2007