Steven M. Biskupic

Steven M. Biskupic (born March 26, 1961), was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin serving under Attorneys General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales and Michael Mukasey. He was appointed by George W. Bush in May 2002. Prior to his appointment, Biskupic served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 13 years, specializing in the prosecution of white collar crime. In 2000, Biskupic received the Department of Justice Award for superior performance for his prosecution of mortgage fraud cases. He later worked on a series of high-profile public corruption and civil rights cases in Milwaukee, including the conviction of nine police officers, four Milwaukee aldermen, a state senator and several other public officials. In 2007, Biskupic and his office came under review by US Congressional and Senate investigators looking at the 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice’s internal affairs unit cleared Biskupic of any ethical wrongdoing in the Georgia Thompson prosecution. At the end of the Bush Administration, Biskupic resigned and joined the Milwaukee law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich as a litigator.

Education, early career, and family

Mr. Biskupic received his B.A. in Journalism from Marquette University in 1983 and his J.D. from Marquette in 1987.^[1] He served since March 1989 as a criminal prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice. Prior to joining the United States Attorney's Office, he served for two years as a judicial law clerk to the late Robert W. Warren, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.^[1] He is also an adjunct professor of law at Marquette University Law School. Biskupic, one of nine children, is the brother of Vince Biskupic, the Republican candidate for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 2002, who lost to Peg Lautenschlager. Before that, Vince was the D.A. of Outagamie County, Wisconsin.^[2][3] Their sister Joan Biskupic is a federal legal affairs reporter with Washington Week on PBS^[4] and USA Today.^[5]

Among Biskupic's highest-profile prosecutions was against the Milwaukee police officers who beat Frank Jude, Jr..^[6]

Georgia Thompson prosecution

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy ()
Articles
Timeline Summary of attorneys Documents Congressional hearings List of dismissed attorneys Complete list of related articles
G. W. Bush administration officials involved
Fred F. Fielding, White House Counsel William K. Kelley, Deputy White House Counsel William Moschella, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney, District of Utah, former counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania, former Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys from 2004 to 2005
Involved administration officials who resigned
Alberto Gonzales, United States Attorney General, former White House Counsel Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General Michael A. Battle, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General Monica Goodling, Justice Department's liaison to the White House William W. Mercer, U.S. Attorney, Acting Associate Attorney General (retains position as U.S. Attorney in Montana) Sara Taylor, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs Paul McNulty, Deputy Attorney General Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel (resigned prior to publicity surrounding the controversy, effective January 31, 2007) Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bradley Schlozman, Director Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; former Acting Assistant Attorney General for, and later Principal Deputy Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; former interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress
Patrick Leahy, Chair (D) Arlen Specter, Ranking member, former Chair (R) Chuck Schumer, Chair: Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts (D)
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress
John Conyers, Chair (D) Lamar Smith, Ranking member (R) Linda Sánchez, Chair: Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (D)

In January 2006, under Biskupic's direction Ms. Georgia Thompson a Wisconsin state procurement supervisor was prosecuted for corruption charges related to a state travel contract. She was convicted and sentenced to eighteen months. This conviction; however, was recently thrown out by an appellate court panel in Chicago after 20 minutes of oral argument. Jason Stein from the Wisconsin State Journal notes:^[7]

Update on Appeals written opinion

In an April 20, 2007 article TPM muckraker reporter Paul Kiel noted:

"the federal appeals court released its written opinion on the case. And it wasn't any more sparing than the verbal remarks (e.g. that the evidence was "beyond thin") of the judges when they made the ruling.

The prosecution was based on a reading of the law by which "simple violations of administrative rules [by bureaucrats] would become crimes", the judges wrote. By that interpretation, "it is a federal crime for any official in state or local government to take account of political considerations when deciding how to spend public money"—a "preposterous" idea, they wrote."^[8]

Mr. Kiel also notes that the House Judiciary Committee has now invited Biskupic to tell his story to Congress.

Gregory Stanford from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel frames the concern about the unknowns surrounding this case and its importance for all citizens in this way:^[9]

Relationship to Dismissal of US Attorneys

Interest in the Milwaukee U.S Attorney's Office and Mr. Biskupic specifically centers on how he managed to survive being on the original list of Attorneys to be fired in the 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy. McClatchy Newspapers recently observed that Biskupic, who^[10]

Talking Points Memo was one of the first to identify this controversy and report extensively on it. The April 11, 2007 edition of TPM Muckraker provides a detailed account of the pressure Biskupic and his office were under from both the White House and Justice Department.^[11]

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quotes a statement delivered by Mr. Biskupic on April 14, 2007 that in part reads:^[9]

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has now also called for an investigation in conjunction with this controversy.^[12] Biskupic says he will fully cooperate with an inquiry.

Update on Dismissal Controversy and Mr. Biskupic from House Judiciary Hearings

In a Washington Post article dated Friday, May 11, 2007, reporters Dan Eggen and Paul Kane provide updated information on White House and Justice Department staff involvement in pressing complaints about Mr. Biskupic and a response from him.^[13]

House Judiciary Committee Interest in Thompson Case

The House Judiciary Committee and its Chairman John Conyers were interested in the evolution of the Thompson case Paul Keil of Talking Points Memo reported on September 5, 2007.^[8]

Prosecution cleared by U.S. Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice’s internal affairs unit cleared Biskupic “of any ethical wrongs in the Georgia Thompson prosecution” after two years of review. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:^[14]

References

External links

• Michael Best Biography
• Steve Biskupic Official
• United States V. Thompson
• Bush Milwaukee U.S. Attorney Disgraced by Appeals Court for Political Prosecution of Innocent Woman
• Biskupic responds to today's story
• Corruption cases above politics, prosecutor says
• Senate firings inquiry widens
• E-mails contradict testimony in U.S. attorneys scandal
• Georgia Thompson: Now comes the reckoning
• No evidence of wrongdoing found in Georgia Thompson prosecution