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BJay Pak

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B. J. Pak
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia
In office
October 10, 2017 – January 4, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byJohn A. Horn
Succeeded byBobby Christine (Acting)[1]
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 9, 2017
Preceded byClay Cox (102nd)
Terry England (108th)
Succeeded byBuzz Brockway (102nd)
Clay Cox (108th)
Constituency102nd district (2011–2013)
108th district (2013–2017)
Personal details
Born
Byung Jin Pak

1974 (age 49–50)
Seoul, South Korea
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSandra
Children3
EducationStetson University (BS)
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (JD)

Byung Jin "BJay" Pak[2][3] (born 1974) is a Korean-American attorney and politician who served as the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 2017 to 2021. Pak previously served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives as a Republican from 2011 to 2017.

Early life and education

Pak was born in Seoul, South Korea. His family immigrated to Apopka, Florida, when he was 9 years old.[4] Pak is a graduate of Stetson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He earned his Juris Doctor, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, from the University of Illinois College of Law. In law school, Pak was a Harno Scholar, served as the notes editor for the recent decisions section of the Illinois Bar Journal, and was a member of the Elder Law Journal. In 2013, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of Illinois College of Law.[2]

Career

After graduation, he clerked for Richard Mills of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois.[2]

Pak served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Republican from 2011 to 2017. After representing the 102nd District from 2011 to 2013 and the 108th District from 2013 to 2017, Pak opted not to run for re-election in the November 2016 election.[5][6] Pak was previously a federal prosecutor. While serving as an Assistant United States Attorney, he led the prosecution of individuals who tried to steal Coca-Cola's trade secrets in order to sell them to Pepsi.[7] Pak is Georgia's first Asian-American U.S. Attorney, and he was the state's first Korean-American legislator.[4]

In July 2017, Pak was nominated by President Donald Trump to become United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.[7] He was confirmed for the position by the United States Senate on September 28, 2017.[8] Pak resigned on January 4, 2021.[9] Justice Department officials have declined to say whether Pak resigned voluntarily or was asked to do so.[10] However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pak was forced to resign by senior White House officials in the Trump administration for not investigating false claims of election fraud "enough."[11] Trump has (two weeks before his terms ends) replaced Pak with Bobby Christine,[12] another Trump-appointed prosecutor from southern Georgia, bypassing top career prosecutor Kurt Erskine.[10] The Justice Department inspector general opened an inquiry into Pak's departure.[13]

References

  1. ^ Sneed, Tierney (January 5, 2021). "Trump Admin Bypasses Top Career Prosecutor To Name New Acting US Attorney In Atlanta". Talking Points Memo.
  2. ^ a b c "Meet the U.S. Attorney". United States Department of Justice. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Fourth Wave of United States Attorney Candidate Nominations". whitehouse.gov. 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  4. ^ a b McDonald, R. Robin (July 25, 2017). "Pak's Nomination a 'Great Leap' for Georgia's Asian-Americans". Daily Report. Law.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  5. ^ Yeomans, Curt (February 20, 2016). "Pak leaving legislature after current term ends". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  6. ^ "B.J. Pak". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Hallerman, Tamar (July 21, 2017). "Donald Trump taps former Georgia rep., Albany lawyer to be U.S. attorneys". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. ^ Hallerman, Tamar (September 28, 2017). "Senate confirms former state rep. to be Atlanta-based U.S. attorney". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  9. ^ "U.S. Attorney Pak submits resignation" (Press release). Atlanta, Georgia. January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  10. ^ a b politico.com: Trump replaces U.S. attorney in Atlanta
  11. ^ McWhirter; Gurman; Viswanatha (9 January 2021). "White House Forced Georgia U.S. Attorney to Resign". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Meet the U.S. Attorney". www.justice.gov. April 8, 2015.
  13. ^ Zapotosky, Matt. "Justice Dept. watchdog to examine abrupt departure of Atlanta U.S. attorney whom Trump appeared to criticize" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
Georgia House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 102nd district
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 108th district
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia
2017–2021 		Succeeded by
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