Timothy Griffin

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Timothy Griffin
Rep Tim Griffin Official Photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Vic Snyder
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas
In office
December 20, 2006 – June 1, 2007
Preceded by Bud Cummins
Succeeded by Jane Duke
Personal details
Born John Timothy Griffin
(1968-08-21) August 21, 1968 (age 44)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Political party Republican
Alma mater Hendrix College

Tulane University
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army Reserve[1]
Years of service 1996-present[1]
Rank US-O4 insignia.svg Major[1]
Unit 172nd Infantry Brigade SSI.svg 172nd Infantry Brigade[1]
Battles/wars Iraq[1]
Awards Meritorious Service Medal[1]
Army Commendation Medal (6)[1]
Army Achievement Medal (5)[1]
Combat Action Badge[1]

John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Arkansas's 2nd congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was an interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas from December 2006 to June 2007, appointed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, but never confirmed by the US Senate.

Contents

Early life and education[edit]

Griffin was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was raised in Magnolia, Arkansas. He graduated from Hendrix College. He graduated from law school of Tulane University in 1994.

Pre-congressional political career[edit]

Prior to 2004[edit]

Griffin worked from September 1995 to January 1997 with Special Prosecutor David Barrett and his investigation of former Secretary of HUD, Henry Cisneros. For two years after that he was Senior Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Government Reform. In September 1999 he became Deputy Research Director for the Republican National Committee (for George W. Bush's election campaign); while in that position, he was a legal advisor for the "Bush-Cheney 2000 Florida Recount Team" (see Bush v. Gore). From March 2001 through June 2002 he was Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, (i.e. Assistant's Assistant).

2004 presidential election[edit]

See also: United States presidential election, 2004

From June 2002 to December 2004, Griffin was Research Director and Deputy Communications Director for Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, a high-ranking position within the RNC.

In June 2007, Senators Edward Kennedy and Sheldon Whitehouse asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Griffin led a Republican National Committee effort to suppress the African-American vote in Jacksonville, Florida through caging during the 2004 election. Griffin called the allegations of voter suppression "absolutely, positively false."[2] No wrongdoing was proven.[3]

White House (2005–2006)[edit]

In April 2005, Griffin began working at the White House as Karl Rove's aide, with the title of Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director in the Office of Political Affairs.[4]

U.S. Attorney (2006–2007)[edit]

Portrait of U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin
See also: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

In September 2006, after ending a one-year military mobilization assignment, Griffin began working as a special assistant to Bud Cummins, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.[5]

On December 15, 2006, the Justice Department announced that Griffin would be appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, effective December 20, 2006, the date when the resignation of Cummins took effect.[6][7][8][9] Before a March 2006 revision to the PATRIOT Act, interim U.S. Attorneys had a 120-day term limit, pending confirmation by the Senate of a Presidential nominee. The Attorney General makes interim appointments; after the revision, the Attorney General's interim appointees had no term limit, effectively bypassing the Senate confirmation process if the President declined to put forward a nomination. Griffin was among the first group of interim attorneys appointed by the Attorney General without a term limit.[10] Gonzales' decision to bypass confirmation for Griffin particularly angered Arkansas' two U.S. Senators, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. Both Lincoln and Pryor stated that Gonzales promised them Griffin would go before the Senate for confirmation. Gonzales' decision not to do so prompted Lincoln and Pryor to join many of their Democratic colleagues in demanding Gonzales' resignation or firing.[11]

On May 30, 2007, Griffin resigned from his position effective June 1, 2007[12] with a tearful speech declaring that public service "not worth it. I'm married now and have a kid. I'm sorry I put my wife through this and I'm trying to move on."[13]

Documents released by a subsequent Congressional investigation showed that, in the summer of 2006, White House officials wanted a vacant slot in Little Rock, Arkansas, so Griffin could fill it.[14] Prior to this he was a top Republican researcher and aide to Rove.[15] On February 16, 2007, 10 days after McNulty testified that Cummins was dismissed in order to make a vacancy for Griffin to be appointed to, Griffin announced that he would not seek the presidential nomination to be U.S. attorney in Little Rock.[16]

In September 2008, the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Justice issued a report concluding that Cummins had not been removed for any reasons related to his performance, but rather to make a place for Griffin.[17][18]

On August 11, 2009, the New York Times reported that previously classified White House emails, showed Karl Rove had lobbied for Griffin to be appointed Cummins's successor.[19]

2008 presidential election[edit]

See also: United States presidential election, 2008

On May 31, 2007, the Washington Post reported speculation that Griffin was in discussions with the then-nascent Presidential campaign of Fred Thompson for a top-level post.[20] Instead, Griffin set an office in Little Rock, Arkansas, for Mercury Public Affairs, a New York City-based firm, part of the Omnicom Group, where he had worked as general counsel and managing director. (The Thompson campaign paid Mercury Public Affairs to have Griffin as an advisor.[21]) Then, after a short period with Mercury, he started Griffin Public Affairs and the Griffin Law Firm.[22]

In late May 2008, columnist Robert Novak reported that Griffin had been named as the Republican National Committee's Director of Research for the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, to direct opposition research, "although final arrangements have not been pinned down".[23] But Griffin said he was not going back to the Republican National Committee (RNC), and that he had not talked to anyone in the GOP's leadership structure or with the McCain campaign about that role.[22]

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Elections[edit]

2010

On September 21, 2009, Griffin announced that he was running for Congress, to replace Democrat Vic Snyder who stepped down after 14 years in Congress.[24] He defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Elliott, Majority Leader of the Arkansas Senate. Elliott's campaign highlighted Griffin's past controversies such as the Bush campaign's voter caging efforts and his being named one of the "Crooked Candidates of 2010" by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.[25]

Griffin won with 58% of the vote.[26]

2012

Griffin won reelection with 55.19% of the vote, over former state representative Herb C. Rule III. [27]

Committee assignments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Once a Soldier... Always a Soldier". Legislative Agenda. Association of the United States Army. 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2013. 
  2. ^ Rushing, J. Taylor (June 20, 2007). "Senators seek inquiry into GOP's Duval acts". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved January 2, 2013. 
  3. ^ Marisa Taylor; Margaret Talev (June 18, 2007). "Politics weakens Justice Dept. independence". McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved January 2, 2013. 
  4. ^ Griffin's resume, DOJ emails released to the Senate Judiciary Committee, p.15
  5. ^ Sabin, Warwick. End around: Senators question U.S. attorney appointment. Arkansas Times, December 28, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
  6. ^ "Justice Department Announces Appointment of J. Timothy Griffin as Interim United States Attorney" (PDF). Press Release. Department of Justice. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-05-28. 
  7. ^ Waas, Murray (May 10, 2007). "Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove". National Journal (National Journal Group). Retrieved 2007-05-28. 
  8. ^ Q & A from Committee for Bud Cummins (no date). United States House Committee on the Judiciary Retrieved May 18, 2007. (Written responses by Bud Cummins to committee interrogatories, post-hearing.)
  9. ^ "J. Timothy Griffin sworn in as Interim United States Attorney fpr the Eastern District of Arkansas" (PDF). Press Release. Department of Justice. December 20, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-05-28. 
  10. ^ Satter, Linda (December 16, 2006). "Prosecutor post is filled in recess". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-04. 
  11. ^ Lincoln, Pryor say Gonzales should be replaced - FOX16.com
  12. ^ Brantley, Max (May 30, 2007). "It's official". Arkansas Blog (The Arkansas Times). Archived from the original on 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-05-31. 
  13. ^ Jon Gambrell, Associated Press, "Griffin, wiping away tears, says public service is 'not worth it' after flap", June 14, 2007
  14. ^ Serrano, Richard (March 14, 2007). "E-mails detail White House tactics behind firings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-03-16. [dead link]
  15. ^ "E-mails lay out plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys". CNN. March 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
  16. ^ Dan Eggen (2007-04-17). "Interim Ark. U.S. Attorney Won't Seek Job: Former Rove Aide Says Senate Democrats Would Block Permanent Nomination". The Washington Post. p. A10. 
  17. ^ "An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006". United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. September 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
  18. ^ Roth, Zachary (October 1, 2008). "Report Shows White House Engineered U.S. Attorney Firings". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
  19. ^ Eric Lichtblau, Eric Lipton (2009-08-11). "E-Mail Reveals Rove’s Key Role in ’06 Dismissals". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  20. ^ Shear, Michael D. and Dan Balz (May 31, 2007). "Thompson Bid Would Stir Up GOP Race". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-01. 
  21. ^ Andrew Zajac, "McCain aide: DOJ scandal 'nonsense'", Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2008
  22. ^ a b David J. Sanders, "Tim Griffin's proximity attracts lots of attention", Arkansas News Bureau, May 28, 2008
  23. ^ Robert Novak, "McCain Won't Play by Obama's Rules", May 22, 2008
  24. ^ "Ark. Business online media newspaper Arkansas News ebusiness research journal". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  25. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2274043/
  26. ^ "Arkansas Election Results". The New York Times. 
  27. ^ http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G12/AR

External links[edit]

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Vic Snyder		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
January 3, 2011 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Trey Gowdy
R-South Carolina		 United States Representatives by seniority
300th		 Succeeded by
Morgan Griffith
R-Virginia
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