Troy Eid

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Troy Eid
U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado U.S. Department of Justice
Preceded by	John Suthers
Nationality	U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Allison Hartwell Eid
Children	Two
Residence	Denver, Colorado
Alma mater	University of Chicago Stanford University
Profession	Attorney

Troy A. Eid was the 41st United States Attorney for the district of Colorado, and the first Egyptian-American ever appointed to serve as a U.S. Attorney.

Eid, a member of the Republican Party, previously served as legal counsel to former Colorado Governor Bill Owens, then became the state's chief personnel and administration officer. After President George W. Bush appointed him U.S. Attorney, Eid oversaw the prosecution of Joseph Nacchio, the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International indicted on 42 counts of insider trading; the conviction is under review by appellate judges.

Eid resigned as U.S. Attorney one day before the inauguration of President Barack Obama and announced his intention to run for state attorney general, but he later withdrew his bid when Republican incumbent John Suthers announced he would seek re-election. Eid is seen as a potential GOP candidate for several 2010 races, including U.S. Senate, state governor and Colorado's 7th congressional district.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Cabinet of Gov. Bill Owens 3 Appointment to U.S. Attorney 4 Joseph Nacchio trial 5 Other U.S. Attorney service 6 Resignation and Attorney General bid 7 Support for S.797 Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009 8 Family 9 Writings 10 Notes and references

[edit] Early career

Eid was born in Colorado to Edward Eid,^[1] an Egyptian who immigrated to the United States in 1957.^[2] He was raised in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and enrolled at Stanford University in the early 1980s, originally majoring in Russian. Eid, who also served as editor of the school newspaper was active and well-known at Stanford. He met his future wife, Allison Hartwell, while standing in line at a dorm cafeteria, where she was working as a food-service worker; she later said upon meeting Troy, "I said, 'Oh my gosh, you're Troy Eid!' It was love at first sight in the meal card line.'"^[3] Eid graduated from Stanford in 1986 and, along with Hartwell, attended the University of Chicago Law School, where Eid earned his law degree in 1991.^[3] Eid is admitted to practice law in Colorado and the Navajo Nation, and his legal practice has focused on environmental, natural resources and federal Indian law. Eid is a member of the American Law Institute^[4], was rated as one of the nation's top environmental attorneys by Chambers USA^[2] and was named by The Denver Post as one of 2007's "People to Watch".^[1] He was also a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative organization seeking reform of the American legal system.^[5]

Eid served as a law clerk to Edith Jones, chief judge of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before entering private law practice in 1992 at Holme Roberts & Owen in Denver.^[2] When Eid was sent to the Navajo Nation to do work there as a private attorney, he decided to take the nation's bar exam as the best way to gain credibility there; he passed the exam.^[3] Eid also served as a special assistant to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan and a congressional aide for law enforcement and the federal judiciary. From 1994 to 1999, Eid served as general counsel and chief operating officer of the National Information Infrastructure Testbed, an Internet technology research consortium formed to prototype advanced Internet applications in such areas manufacturing, health care and environmental protection.^[2] In his capacity with the consortium, Eid directed engineering teams in North America, Europe and Asia.^[4] Eid also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, where he continues teaches Advanced American Indian law as of the fall of 2008.^[2]

[edit] Cabinet of Gov. Bill Owens

From 1999 to 2003, Eid served on the cabinet of then-Colorado Governor Bill Owens. Owens first appointed him Chief Legal Counsel, where he oversaw the appointment of 34 state judges. Eid also served as Executive Director for Department of Personnel & Administration, where he was responsible for Colorado's largest workforce of 70,000 employees.^[2] Within days of the shootings in 1999 at the Columbine High School in Columbine, Jefferson County, Eid was chosen to spearhead an independent commission that reviewed the law enforcement response.^[3] He also chaired the Colorado States Board of Ethics served on more than a dozen state boards during his time on Owens' cabinet^[2] and eventually served as chief administrative officer for Colorado's $13 billion state government.^[4] Owens described Eid as a model of integrity and uprightness while serving on the cabinet, and said of his work during that time, ""It's a trial by fire, and when you survive it, typically it means you're going to be a very good lawyer."^[3] Eid was awarded "Outstanding Governmental Official of the Year" by the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.^[2]

[edit] Appointment to U.S. Attorney

When Colorado U.S. Attorney John Suthers was appointed the state's attorney general in December 2004, Troy Eid was considered for his replacement along with Larimer County District Attorney Stu VanMeveren and Arapahoe County District Attorney Jim Peters.^[6] Eid withdrew his name from consideration in January 2006, claiming the 13-month selection process was taking too long.^[7] Eid also withdrew in part because his wife, Allison Eid, was under consideration for the Denver-based Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; the appointment would have created a conflict of interest since the U.S. Attorney oversees cases that often end up in the circuit court.^[8] Eid denied that his withdrawal had anything to do with Jack Abramoff, who had recently been fired from Greenberg Traurig;. Eid insisted the fact that he had been selected for an internal ethics committee at the firm indicated he didn't "have an Abramoff problem."^[7]

After withdrawing, Eid announced he would run for an at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents. In March 2006, Allison Eid was appointed Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court, which removed the potential conflict because the U.S. Attorney does not get involved in state court matters. By that time, VanMeveren and Peters had also been removed from consideration for U.S. Attorney. When the White House asked for three more names, Senator Wayne Allard recommended only William Leone^[6], who had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney since January 1, 2005.^[4] Leone, however, had been placed on a list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired for political reasons by Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,^[5] and the White House instead asked Eid to reconsider.^[6] White House officials did not consider any other candidates besides Eid,^[8] who suspended his campaign for the University of Colorado Board of Regents in order to accept the U.S. Attorney position.^[9]

Eid was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush on June 9, 2006,^[4] making him the 41st United States Attorney for the state of Colorado and the first Arab-American ever appointed to serve as a U.S. Attorney.^[2] Eid, who said he was "totally stunned"^[6] by the invitation, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 4, 2006. He served as Colorado's chief federal criminal prosecutor and represented the United States in civil cases where the government was party to a lawsuit.^[4] When Eid started the position with about 2,500 civil and criminal cases among 120 people, which he described as one of the heaviest caseloads outside of Washington, D.C..^[1] In addition to the cases, Eid said his priorities upon assuming the office were enforcing immigration laws, cracking down on drug trafficking, and creating a cyber-crime unit to fight child solicitation and pornography. In his first few weeks on the job, Eid visited with local, state and federal law enforcement and met one-on-one with everybody on his approximately 140-person staff.^[3] The salary was about $142,000 a year.^[9]

[edit] Joseph Nacchio trial

Among the cases Eid inherited from acting U.S. Attorney Leone was the ongoing prosecution of Joseph Nacchio, the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International indicted on 42 counts of insider trading. Nacchio was accused of selling $101 million of Qwest stock in the first five months of 2001 despite knowledge from company insider's that Qwest's financial condition was deteriorating. Leone had been lead prosecutor on the Nacchio case since 2002, but several members of the prosecution team had left throughout the years^[10] due to infighting that threatened to derail the case. Due to the problems with the Nacchio team and prior failures to achieve convictions against other Qwest employees, U.S. Department of Justice officials became concerned about the Denver office's ability to get a conviction and considered taking over the prosecution. Eid persuaded them otherwise in part by hiring Cliff Stricklin,^[11] who prosecuted the case against former Enron officials Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay in response to the Enron scandal. Although Stricklin was difficult to woo following his Enron success, Eid successfully hired Stricklin in August 2006 as First Assistant U.S. Attorney of Colorado and the head prosecutor for the Nacchio case^[1]

The prosecution team, which had about seven months to prepare for trial, also included Justice Department litigator Colleen Conry; Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Traskos; former tobacco litigation task force prosecutor Leo Wise; and Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney James Hearty, the only prosecutor who served on Leone's original Qwest team. The prosecutors reportedly got along very well and heeded lessons from previous unsuccessful corporate fraud, which prompted Stricklin to describe them as "the very best team" he ever worked with.^[12] The trial began in March 2007 and in April, Nacchio was convicted of 19 of the 42 counts of insider trading. On July 28, he was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a $19 million fine and forfeit the $52 million he grossed on the illegal sales. Eid described the Nacchio case as the largest insider trading case in United States history; regarding the verdict and sentencing, Eid said, "This is what the American criminal justice system is all about"^[13] and said, "'Convicted felon Joe Nacchio' has a very nice ring to it."^[12]

Nacchio appealed the verdict, arguing that Judge Edward Nottingham defense witness was improperly excluded from offering expert evidence during the trial. In a two-to-one decision on March 17, 2008, the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all 19 guilty counts and ordered a new trial before a different judge.^[14] Eid appealed the decision to the full appellate court, which is currently considering the case. Eid recruited Edwin Kneedler, principal deputy solicitor general for the Department of Justice and a veteran Supreme Court attorney, to represent the government in the case; Eid said of Kneedler, "We wanted the best and we got him."^[15]

[edit] Other U.S. Attorney service

In August 2008, Troy Eid charged Marc Garold Ramsey, 39, for sending a threatening letter with white powdery substance to 2008 Republican Party presidential nominee Senator John McCain.^[16] The letter read, "Senator McCain, If you are reading this then you are already DEAD! Unless of course you can't or don't breathe." Although the powder was not lethal, Ramsey could face at least five years on charges of knowingly mailing a threat. Later that month, Eid also assessed an alleged assassination plot against then-Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, after alleged plotters Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Johnson were arrested just prior to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Although the trio were charged with drug and weapon charges, Eid determined the racist statements the suspects made following their arrests had not risen to the legal standard that would have allowed the filing of federal charges for threatening a presidential candidate.^[17] At an August 26 press conference, Eid dismissed the trio as drug addicts and said the "meth heads were not a true threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention or the people of Colorado."^[18]

Eid was accused by some of showing a political bias by prosecuting Ramsey without charging Gartrell, Adolf and Johnson, but Eid defended the decision; in a letter responding to the criticism, he wrote, “It would have been disgraceful for me or any other prosecutor to charge someone for a crime he didn’t commit. ... There was no probable cause to support such a charge. To the extent you challenge my motives or those of the many investigating agents and career prosecutors who all reached this conclusion in this matter, you’re mistaken.”^[19] Eid aides admitted, however, that the decision not to charge was at least in part because they did not believe a jury would convict them based on the reliability of Johnson's testimony; Jeffrey Dorschner, Eid's spokesman, said a defense attorney “would tear him apart.”^[19]

[edit] Resignation and Attorney General bid

With the election of President Barack Obama, Eid was expected to be replaced as U.S. Attorney, as is the custom with a change of presidential administrations. On January 7, 2009, Troy Eid announced he would resign as U.S. Attorney on January 19, the day before President Barack Obama's inauguration, and run for Colorado Attorney General in 2010. Eid sought to fill the position expected to be vacated by John Suthers, who was planning to run for governor or U.S. Senate. However, shortly after Eid's resignation, Suthers announced that he would seek re-election as attorney general rather than run for higher office. In response, Eid dropped his plans to run for attorney general, describing Suthers as one of his close friends and claiming, "The bottom line (is) challenging John is not part of my equation."^[20] Eid rejoined the private firm Greenberg Traurig, where he worked from 2003 to 2006. Eid said he had not decided whether he would seek any other office, although he is seen as a possible candidate for governor, U.S. Senate or the Colorado's 7th congressional district currently held by Democrat Ed Perlmutter.^[20]

[edit] Support for S.797 Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009

Eid testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in support of S.797 on June 25, 2009. Introduced April 2, 2009, S.797 is legislation aimed at amending the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000, the Indian Tribal Justice Act, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. A primary goal of S.797 is to improve the prosecution of crimes on Tribal Lands by filling the jurisdictional gap left when federal jurisdiction over tribal lands was removed in 1953 by Public Law 280. In his testimony, Eid cited examples of the jurisdictional complexity he encountered during his time as U.S. Attorney. A full transcript of his testimony may be found here.

[edit] Family

Eid is married to Allison Hartwell Eid, who was appointed an Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court by then-Governor Bill Owens in February 2006.^[2] Troy and Allison have two children together named Alex and Emily.^[1] Allison has described her husband as one who enjoys and embraces challenges; citing his decision to take the Navajo Nation's bar exam during his time as a private attorney, she said, ""What 41-year-old man is going to willingly take the bar? He's just someone who jumps in and says, 'I'm going to meet this challenge.'"^[3]

[edit] Writings

Eid wrote the article "Strategic Democracy-Building: How U.S. States Can Help" for The Washington Quarterly magazine^[4], which was published a chapter for the 2003 book, Winning Hearts and Minds: Using Soft Power to Undermine Terrorist Networks. He also wrote a 2007 article for The Federal Lawyer entitled "Beyond Oliphant: Strengthening Criminal Justice in Indian Country."^[2]

[edit] Notes and references