Utah’s federal prosecutor ousted in Trump shift

Utah’s top federal prosecutor, Magna native U.S. Attorney John Huber, is among the leading criminal enforcement officials in 46 states asked to tender their resignations to President Donald Trump’s administration Friday.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s website has included announcements from several states’ U.S. attorneys during the past four months about their resignations in the wake of Trump’s Election Night victory. Utah’s chief federal prosecutor is not among them, but Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores confirmed Friday that all those states whose chiefs have not resigned were asked to do so “to ensure a uniform transition” of the administration.

Huber submitted his letter of resignation on Friday evening immediately after receiving a request from the Trump administration. But spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said Monday that Huber has not resigned because his letter had not been accepted yet. She says the matter is in the hands of the U.S. Department of Justice.

A few of the nation's chief federal prosecutors will remain on the job for months until a successor is confirmed. For example, Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Monday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration were allowing her to remain at her post until October so that she "might complete 20 years of service to the Department of Justice." And Randolph J. Seiler, South Dakota's U.S. attorney, announced the same day that he will remain in office until his replacement is confirmed because federal statute allows him to do so, since his appointment was confirmed under federal court authority when the U.S. Senate failed to do so by the statutory deadline in 2015.

Huber acknowledged in a December 2015 interview with The Spectrum & Daily News, a few months after he was confirmed as President Barack Obama’s selection to replace outgoing U.S. Attorney David Barlow in Utah, that the states’ lead federal prosecutors are appointed by the president and the approaching end of Obama’s term left his job security tentative.

“We know the president is going to change in a year or so,” the 20-year career prosecutor said at the time. “When the U.S. attorney steps down, the first assistant U.S. attorney becomes the acting (executive).”

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said Saturday that the department is not commenting on the matter at this time.

It's fairly customary for the 93 U.S. attorneys to leave their positions after a new president is in office, but the departures are not automatic and don't necessarily happen all at once. Presidents generally appoint federal prosecutors based on recommendations from home-state senators, and Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee recommended Huber to Obama.

"During a transition from one administration to another, it is far from unprecedented or inappropriate for a new administration to choose a new team of prosecutors, especially when there are significant legal policy differences between the outgoing and incoming administrations,” Hatch said in an emailed statement Saturday. “I look forward to working with the administration to ensure a smooth transition and ensuring that our newly appointed and reappointed U.S. Attorneys are on the job as soon as is reasonably possible."

One U.S. attorney appointed by President George W. Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general in the Trump administration, according to the Associated Press.

A Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, said Trump has asked Rosenstein and Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente, who has served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to stay on.

Sessions’ call for resignations was similar to the approach in 1993 by Attorney General Janet Reno, who soon after taking office in the Clinton administration sought the resignations of the U.S. attorneys appointed by President George H.W. Bush. At the time, Sessions was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

Tim Purdon, a former U.S. attorney for North Dakota in the Obama administration, recalled Friday that President Barack Obama permitted Bush appointees to remain on until their successors had been appointed and confirmed, the Associated Press reported.

"The way the Obama administration handled it was appropriate and respectful and classy," he said. "This saddens me because many of these people are great public servants and now they are being asked to leave."

Sessions issued a memo earlier in the week directing the U.S. attorneys to target the “most significant violent offenders,” adding that many offices are already employing strategies he recommended that include working closely with state, local and tribal law enforcement partners to “determine which venue – federal or state – would best get those identified immediately off our streets and punished appropriately for their crimes.”

Huber’s social media posts during the past few months have paid tribute to Utah law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, and his team has worked with local law enforcement on a number of high-profile Southern Utah cases, including white collar crime and food stamp welfare fraud in the stateline polygamous community.

At the same time, the outcome of the prosecutions have netted mixed emotions among court observers. While 73-year-old St. George businessman Edmund Edward Wilson was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to repay more than $12 million to his victims in a real estate development fraud last year, the 11-year prison sentence for St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson’s falsified bank accounts in a $1.66 million judgment came amid emotional trial proceedings in which Johnson was acquitted of 78 more serious fraud-related charges federal prosecutors had filed against him.

Former members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their sympathizers also expressed surprise when a large-scale investigation of food stamp fraud that allegedly diverted more than $12 million for unapproved uses ended in misdemeanor convictions without prison time or fines for nearly all the defendants.

“It’s like Vietnam – the government declared victory and got out, and everyone’s benefited for it. So I think (the plea agreement) is a wonderful deal,” defense attorney Aric Cramer said of the initial case resolutions in January.

Follow reporter Kevin Jenkins on Twitter, @SpectrumJenkins. Contact him at 435-674-6253.