Todd Graves

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U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, announcing his resignation on March 10, 2006
U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, announcing his resignation on March 10, 2006

Todd Graves was United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. He took his oath of office on September 17, 2001, initially as an interim United States attorney appointed by the U.S. District Court, on September 17, 2001, and his presidential appointment by George W. Bush was formally confirmed by the United States Senate on October 11, 2001. He resigned effective March 24, 2006.[1][2]

Graves initially appeared on a list of 12 U.S. attorneys slated to be dismissed. Seven on that list were dismissed on December 7, 2006. In April of 2007 Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse declined to discuss redacted names on the list. He said the Justice Department withheld the names of prosecutors who had been considered for possible dismissal to protect their reputations and "their ability to function effectively as U.S. attorneys or professionals in other roles."[3] On May 9, 2007, Graves disclosed and confirmed for the first time that he had been forced out by the Department of Justice, and had not departed on his own initiative.[4]

His successor in office was interim attorney Bradley Schlozman. After resigning from his position as U.S. attorney, he formed the law firm of Graves Bartle & Marcus, LLC, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Before the dismissal, Graves was best known as the prosecutor of the Miracle Cars scam.

He is the brother of Rep. Sam Graves. He was born and raised in Tarkio, Missouri.

[edit] Years prior to U.S. Attorney service

Graves received an undergraduate degree in agricultural economics, with a minor in political science, from the University of Missouri, and a law degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Virginia in 1991.[5]

Right out of law school, Graves was employed as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Missouri, and served that year as a staff assistant on the Governor’s Commission on Crime. From 1992 to 1994, Graves was in private practice with the law firm of Bryan Cave.[5]

In 1994 he was elected as Platte County Prosecuting Attorney (at the time, he was the youngest full-time prosecuting attorney in Missouri), and re-elected in 1998, an office that he held until his US Attorney appointment.[5]

[edit] Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

Main article: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys Controversy ( v • d • e )
Articles
Administration Officials Involved
Involved Administration Officials that Resigned
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary

In January, 2006, Graves was asked to step down from his job by Michael A. Battle, then director of the Justice department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.[6]

Sen. Christopher S. Bond, on Graves' request, asked the White House for an extension of Graves's tenure so that he could finish an important case; the request was not granted.[6]

Graves had clashed with Justice's civil rights division over a federal lawsuit involving Missouri's voter rolls. DOJ was pushing for a lawsuit against Missouri accusing the state of failing to eliminate ineligible people from voter rolls. Graves refused to sign off on the lawsuit, which was subsequently authorized by Bradley Schlozman.[6][7]

In April 2007, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.[6]

After Graves' resignation, Schlozman succeeded him, remaining for a year until the Senate, in April 2007, confirmed John Wood for the job. Wood was a counselor to the deputy attorney general and is a son of Bond's first cousin.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tod Graves steps down as U.S. Attorney Press Release. Department of Justice. March 10, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
    Note that Senate confirmation date differs with presidential citation by one day.
  2. ^ Todd P. Graves Presidential Nomination The White House Retrieved May 8, 2007.
    Announcement: July 30, 2001, Nomination Sent to the Senate: September 4, 2001. Confirmed by the Senate: October 12, 2001
  3. ^ Talev, Margaret; Ron Hutcheson and Marisa Taylor. "Administration considered firing 12 U.S. attorneys but cut list down", McClatchy Newspapers, 2007-04-27. Retrieved on 2007-05-09. 
  4. ^ David, Stout. "House Democrats Raise New Criticism of Gonzales", The New York Times, May 10, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. 
  5. ^ a b c http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/progress_report.pdf Western District of Missouri: A Record of the United States Attorneys Office, 2001-2006
  6. ^ a b c d e Amy Goldstein. "Number of Fired Prosecutors Grows: Dismissals Began Earlier Than Justice Dept. Has Said", Washington Post, May 10, 2007, p. A01. 
  7. ^ Greg Gordon. "GOP sought to suppress votes in Missouri, critics say: Missouri is among states where alleged efforts to dampen Democratic turnout were focused", McClatchy Newspapers, May 4, 2007.