| Glenn A. Fine | |
|---|---|
| Former Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice | |
| In office December 15, 2000 – January, 2011 |
|
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Director of the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice | |
| In office 1996 – December 15, 2000 |
|
| Special Counsel to the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice | |
| In office January, 1995 – 1996 |
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| Personal details | |
| Spouse(s) | Beth Heifetz |
| Website | Official website |
Glenn Alan Fine (circa 1956— ) served as Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice from 2000 until January 2011. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2000. Prior to his appointment as Inspector General, Fine served as Special Counsel to the Inspector General from January 1995 until 1996, when he was made Director of the OIG's Special Investigations and Review Unit.[1]
Immediately prior to joining the OIG office at the Department of Justice, Fine had been in a private law practice in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in labor and employment law. Before entering private practice, Fine served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Washington, D.C. United States Attorney's Office from 1986 to 1989. In those three years, he prosecuted more than 35 criminal jury trials and handled numerous grand jury investigations.[1]
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Fine's father was an antitrust lawyer at the Justice Department for 28 years.[2]
In September 1993, Fine married Beth Heifetz, a former law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. The wedding was jointly officiated at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC by Justice Blackmun and Rabbi Howard Gorin.[3]
Fine attended Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. In 1979, he graduated with an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard College, magna cum laude. He was co-captain of the Harvard varsity basketball team.
Though only 5'9", he was a 10th-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs, an NBA basketball team, in 1979. Instead, he accepted a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.[1][2] Fine earned B.A. and M.A. degrees at Oxford.
Fine received his JD from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1985.[1]
Fine was appointed Inspector General of the Department of Justice by President Bill Clinton in 2000, and can be removed by the President. He has a staff of four hundred criminal investigators, auditors and lawyers. The office is expected to be non-partisan.
As the Inspector General, Fine supervised a staff of more than 400 employees who conducted investigations, audits and special reviews of Department of Justice programs and expenditures. Among some of the most high profile of the these matters were the reviews of the Department of Justice’s handling of intelligence information related to the Sept. 11 attacks, the Department’s treatment of detainees after the Sept. 11 attacks, allegations regarding politicized hiring in the Justice Department and the firing of U.S. Attorneys, the FBI’s use of national security letters, and the Department’s preparation to respond to attacks utilizing weapons of mass destruction. Under his supervision, the OIG also conducted many audits of the Department’s operations and practices, as well as investigations of individual allegations of misconduct by Department employees. Mr. Fine also testified more than 40 times before Congressional committees.
For his work, Fine was named the National Law Journal’s Lawyer of the Year in 2008. He also received numerous other honors and recognitions, including Harvard Law School’s Cox, Coleman, and Richardson Award for Distinguished Public Service. He has frequently been profiled in major media outlets.
You’re part of the department, but you’re also independent....You have to recognize that you’re not going to be popular. You have to be as fair and aggressive as you can and just accept that you’re not going to please everyone.
— Glenn A. Fine[2]
Fine retired from the Department and resigned as Inspector General in February, 2011. He joined Dechert as a partner in the White Collar & Securities Litigation Practice on September 6, 2011
Shortly after he announced his retirement, the New York Times praised Fine's tenure as Inspector General: