Nick Klinefeldt & Stephanie Rose

Saturday, the full Senate voted on President Obama’s U.S. attorney nominees for Iowa, confirming Nick Klinefeldt for the Southern District and Stephanie Rose for the Northern District. That means that Iowa’s two U.S. Attorney offices will soon be under new management.

Although both incoming U.S. attorneys have taken some public criticism on the road to confirmation, Rose, who has worked for more than a decade in the Northern District as a federal prosecutor, was a common target of those who believed her role in the prosecution of several hundred immigrant workers at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville tainted her recommendation to lead the office.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who recommended both individuals for their new jobs, said such criticism was misplaced, even while he applauded a judicial ruling stating the criminal prosecutions of the workers were inappropriate. Harkin’s confidence in Rose also recently received an added boost when U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley noted how admirable it was to see a career prosecutor rise through the ranks of the Department of Justice and be recommended to take over the post.

Despite all of the concerns that have revolved around Rose’s role in the Postville prosecutions, she is most well known within the Justice Department for investigating and prosecuting Internet pharmaceutical companies. She will become the second woman in state history to serve as a U.S. Attorney, and the first Senate-confirmed woman to lead the Northern District office.

Both Klinefeldt, whose recommendation was of a more traditional political nature since he had previously served as a Harkin aide and attorney for the Obama campaign, and Rose will replace individuals selected by Grassley and placed before the U.S. Senate by then-President George W. Bush.

Matt Whitaker, who has served the Southern District of Iowa, was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in June 2004. Matt Dummermuth, who has served the Northern District, was appointed to the post by Bush, but despite being nominated for the post in December 2008, never stood for Senate confirmation.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley is a member with seniority, agreed today by unanimous consent to pass the nominations of Stephanie Rose and Nick Klinefeldt on to the full Senate.

“These individuals are enthusiastic, intelligent attorneys, and I’m pleased to support their nominations,” Grassley wrote in his statement for the committee. “I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for [them].”

Nick Klinefeldt & Stephanie Rose

Although both nominees are considered well-qualified for the positions, neither has been able to escape criticism.

Rose’s critics point to her role in the prosecution of the more than 300 immigrants that were detained in the raid at Agriprocessors in Postville. Criticism of Klinefeldt, which has been little more than a whisper when compared to the organized and often aggressive effort against Rose, has not centered on him personally, but on the fact that his father is currently serving a 10-year sentence on drug-related charges. In each instance, Harkin has vehemently defended the two attorneys.

In addition to the two Iowa nominees, the committee also approved by unanimous consent the nomination of Kenyen Brown for U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

If confirmed by the Senate, Klinefeldt will replace Matt Whitaker, who was nominated by then-President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2004. If confirmed, Rose will replace Matt Dummermuth, an attorney recommended by Grassley and appointed by then-President George W. Bush in January 2007. Although nominated by the Bush administration in December 2008, Dummermuth never faced Senate confirmation.

There are a total of 93 U.S. Attorney posts in the nation. To date, including the three nominees today, the Judiciary Committee has approved 24 individuals, and 18 of those have gone to be confirmed by the Senate.

Nick Klinefeldt, a Des Moines defense attorney, served as a clerk in the office of U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt for two years before moving to Massachusetts. While there he worked first as a clerk for Chief Justic Christopher Armstrong on the Massachusetts Court of Appeals before taking on first- and second-chair responsibilities in the Kelly, Libby & Hoopes law firm.

“I’m extremely thankful for the confidence Sen. Harkin has expressed by giving me his recommendation,” Klinefeldt told Iowa Independent by phone Friday evening. “I’m also extremely thankful for all of those who supported me.”

Klinfeldt added that if the Obama administration nominates him for the post, he will look forward to and be “excited about the upcoming Senate confirmation process.”

Most recently Klinefeldt has served as an associate with the Ahlers & Cooney law firm in Des Moines. He is a volunteer with Iowa Legal Aid and a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel for the Southern District of Iowa, through which he has handled court-appointed federal cases.

“Mr. Klinefeldt’s experiences in the federal criminal system give him the good judgement to use fairly the extensive discretion given to U.S. Attorneys as the district’s chief law enforcement officer,” Harkin said. “He fully understands how decisions made by federal prosecutors can affect the lives of crime victims, defendants, families and neighborhoods throughout the state.”

Harkin added that Klinefeldt is committed to bringing a renewed sense of integrity to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“[He] has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the principles of due process and equal justice under the law,” Harkin said. “He will work to implement the changes needed to restore integrity and revitalize confidence in a fair judicial system.”

Since 2006 Klinefeldt has served as general counsel for the Iowa Democratic Party. He also served as the chief legal officer for the Obama for America campaign in Iowa. He also has close ties to Harkin, having served first as a summer intern for the senator, then on his re-election campaign and finally on staff.

Despite these ties to Democrats, Harkin says that Klinefeldt is supported by both Democrats and Republicans.

“These individuals support his recommendation for this position without regard to party affiliation because they are aware of his dedication to vigorously enforce our nation’s federal laws while pursing justice,” Harkin said.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Klinefeldt will replace Matt Whitaker, who was nominated by Pres. George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2004.

Sen. Tom Harkin

Interviews for the individuals being considered for the two U.S. attorney posts in Iowa are complete, according to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, and his office hopes to make its recommendations to the White House soon.

“I completed the interview process this past weekend,” Harkin said Thursday during a conference call with members of the press. “We are now going through the files and very soon — maybe even yet this week, I hope, if not early next week — I will be forwarding some names to the White House counsel.”

Harkin, a Democrat who has represented Iowa in the Senate since 1985, indicated his pleasure with the overall quality of the candidates for the positions but did not mention any names. There is, however, at least one woman among the finalists, the senator said. Roxanne Conlin, who served from 1977 to 1981 in the southern district of Iowa, is the first and only woman to be confirmed and serve as a U.S. attorney in Iowa.

Harkin said that he looked for individuals that would not only be diligent prosecutors but who would “work diligently to help change our system” so that there isn’t extreme prosecution of “the little guy” and that alternatives to prison are considered.

“Our prison population is being overwhelmed by [this problem],” Harkin explained. “A lot of the people in the prisons are there for non-violent crimes — such as drug offenses. But we aren’t doing anything for rehab.”

Harkin noted work and research conducted by the sheriff’s offices in Polk, Woodbury and Story counties has shown that methamphetamine abusers can be rehabilitated and re-enter society.

“It seems to me that we need to look for prosecutors who are willing to consider other avenues such as that,” he said. “I want prosecutors who want to get violent criminals off the streets. I want to see them go after those who are pushing and manufacturing drugs, not just the drug users. Go after those people who are making the big money in drugs, not just the low-level users of them.”

Harkin summarized that he was looking for a prosecutor who had a “good sense of justice.”

“I think right now the stature of the Department of Justice is not very high,” he said, “because of [John] Ashcroft and [Alberto] Gonzales and all of that mess — the ideological thrust of it,” he said, referring to two attorneys general from the Bush administration. “We need to again raise public support for the Department of Justice by making it more professional and non-ideological.”

Iowa’s two U.S. attorney’s offices are currently served by Matt Dummermuth in the northern district and Matt Whitaker in the southern district. Both were nominated by then-President George W. Bush, although Dummermuth has never been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Dummermuth’s nomination and subsequent appointment to his current post came after the 2005 re-authorization of the USA Patriot Act. The legislation allowed the president — through the office of the attorney general — to replace U.S. attorneys who had retired or resigned with appointees that could serve indefinitely without undergoing senatorial oversight. The loophole was closed in June 2007 when that portion of the legislation was rescinded, but Dummermuth was one of several U.S. attorneys already serving in an indefinite interim role.

Whitaker was confirmed by the Senate in June 2004.

Sen. Tom Harkin

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin is hopeful that he will present the Obama administration with recommendations for Iowa’s two U.S. attorney posts in the next few weeks. As the federal government’s top prosecutors in the state, both positions are central to Iowa law enforcement and both are politically sensitive.

Harkin said he is meeting with potential candidates but did not name any names.

“We are grateful to have a number of highly qualified individuals interested in each of the U.S. attorney positions,” Harkin said in an e-mail to the Iowa Independent Tuesday. “We’re equally grateful to have a high level of anticipatory interest in our process, which we hope will lead to recommendations … during the coming weeks.”

A spokesperson in Harkin’s office said  there are currently no “finalists” for either the Northern District position, now held by Matt Dummermuth, or the Southern District office, now occupied by Matt Whitaker.

By tradition, the senior senator of the president’s party nominates candidates from among whom the White House chooses. While each new incoming administration gets the prosecutors they want, the White House is expected not to interfere with their work as Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and the administration of President George W. Bush did in New Mexico, southern California and several other well-publicized cases.

Both of the Bush-appointed U.S. attorneys have roots in politics as well as the law. Neither has figured in the national U.S. attorneys scandal. While Whitaker and Dummermuth both have a wide array of drug, gun and sexual predator convictions under their belts, they are arguably best known for their response to immigration raids.

In the Southern District, Harkin and the Obama White House will replace Matt Whitaker, a 2002 Republican candidate for state treasurer, who has served since June 2004. An attorney at the Finley Alt Smith firm in Des Moines prior to his appointment, Whitaker was nominated by Bush following a recommendation by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. He had worked for the law firm of Briggs & Morgan in the Twin Cities and as corporate counsel for the national SUPERVALU grocery company.

Whitaker was one of six U.S. attorneys who took charge of investigation and prosecution in the aftermath of Operation Wagon Train, a massive December 2006 immigration raid that netted arrests of 1,297 meatpacking plant workers in six states. Swift & Company, which was at that time one of Marshalltown’s largest employers, was targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the raid.

U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, earned U.S. Sente confirmation in June 2004. His tenure followed Stephen Patrick O'Meara (2003-2004), Steven M. Colloton (2001-2003), Inga Bumbary-Langston (2001) and Don C. Nickerson (1993-2001).

The days that followed were ones of confusion for family members, immigration advocates and attorneys. The federal government, indicating it was acting on the wishes of local law enforcement at the locations of the temporary detention facilities, would not publicly release the whereabouts of those detained.

Whitaker was criticized for alleged heartlessness in the days following the raid because he dismissed reports of children being separated from their parents as exaggerated stories told for political gain.

Seven days later, on Dec. 19,  a federal grand jury in Des Moines handed down indictments of 23 undocumented workers on immigration and identity-theft charges. It was Whitaker who announced that the 23 charged came from a pool of 664 workers federal authorities suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Whitaker also announced that 89 people had been removed from Marshalltown on the day of the raid, a number “lower than expected.” Two low-level members of plant management were charged and ultimately convicted on immigration-related charges. One received a year in prison and the other was sentenced to probation.

While speaking with the Associated Press about his belief that the Obama administration will replace him as U.S. attorney, Whitaker defended his actions following the much-criticized raid, noting that hourly wages in Marshalltown increased by $2 as the source of exploitable undocumented workers dried up. While the media remained busy doing periodic impact reports from Marshalltown and the five other sites included in the 2006 raids, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly secured the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, reportedly for training exercises.

Those facilities came in handy for Matt Dummermuth, the interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District, who had jurisdiction when 389 workers at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville — nearly a third of the workforce — were detained on May 12, 2008, by federal authorities. All were initially taken to the secured Waterloo facility, although a few women were transported to a county jail.

U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth

Dummermuth, who worked as a previous campaign staffer for the successful Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign and for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, seemed to have learned from the Marshalltown public relations fiasco. He launched a much more transparent public relations campaign, featuring joint press conferences with immigration officials and a steady stream of press releases.

His office let reporters know that approximately 40 Postville residents were released, with ankle tracking devices, because they had health concerns and/or small children. Even a forgetful public could remember the charges of “inhumane treatment” associated with the Swift detentions, and Dummermuth’s gesture insured that the Postville raid attracted much less criticism.

Within two weeks, more than three-quarters of all those detained had been quickly and efficiently convicted of criminal wrongdoing, primarily on identity theft-related charges. Although critics strongly voiced their opposition to the temporary courtroom facilities at the fairgrounds and immigration attorneys chafed at less-than-adequate access to clients, Dummermuth was credited with quick completion of an unprecedented undertaking.

Because of Dummermuth and his wife Rebecca’s direct connections to the Bush administration — she was a former White House associate director for legal affairs in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives – his appointment was repeatedly scrutinized at the time of the U.S. attorney scandals. To his and his staff’s credit, Dummermuth was not accused of any perceived impropriety.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, for whom Dummermuth once interned, first recommended Dummermuth, a native of Elgin, to replace the retiring Chuck Larson Sr. in 2006. Nearly two years later — and nearly a year after Dummermuth had been sworn into office — President George W. Bush sent the official nomination to the U.S. Senate. Confirmation hearings were never held because the necessary paperwork from the Iowa delegation was not received.

Former IDP Chair Gordon Fischer

In an e-mail sent to prominent members of Iowa’s Democratic establishment and obtained by the Iowa Independent, Fischer asks recipients to “reach out to Sen. [Tom] Harkin on my behalf, with either a letter, or phone call, or (preferably) both.”

In a letter to Harkin dated Nov. 17, 2008, Fischer officially requested to be considered for the position currently held by Matt Whitaker, a Republican from Des Moines appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004.

Fischer declined to comment when contacted this afternoon by the Iowa Independent.

The e-mail from Fischer to Democrats around the state came before an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department Wednesday that President-elect Barack Obama will not demand immediate, wholesale resignations of Bush political appointees and has asked all U.S. Attorneys to “continue to serve for the time being.”

Fischer is a partner with the Des Moines law firm Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C., where he specializes in employment law. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Southern Illinois University Law School. He led the Iowa Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004.

Though Fischer initially endorsed former Gov. Tom Vilsack in the 2008 presidential campaign, he signed on to Obama’s campaign as an Iowa co-chair months after Vilsack withdrew from the race.

“Human trafficking — the use of force, fraud or coercion to compel the labor or services of another person — is a terrible crime,” said Matt M. Dumermuth, U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Iowa. “The criminals prey on some of the most vulnerable members of our society. They often target children and foreign nationals, including illegal immigrants, who think they have no place to turn for help.”

Dummermuth stood with Matt G. Whitaker, U.S. Attorney for the southern district of Iowa, to announce a plan that will impact Johnson, Linn, Black Hawk and Dubuque counties. Initially, posters and brochures will be distributed through the counties in an effort to bring more public attention to the crime. A Web site has also been launched that includes information about human trafficking, resources for victims, contact information for victim service providers and a link for reporting suspected human trafficking cases.

“Although slavery was outlawed in the United States more than 140 years ago, a modern-day form of it still takes place in our country,” said Whitaker. “We need to make sure we do all we can to help reach out to those who are victims of this crime.”

Human Trafficking Cases in Iowa:

• In June of 1999, Igor Voyitenko, a Russian national, was charged with bringing four Russian immigrants to the Quad Cities to work in his contract cleaning business and live in an inadequate apartment. The work was to be done in exchange for their passage to the United States. The case was handled by immigration authorities who deported the four workers back to Russia. Voyitenko was also later deported.
• More recently, Demont Bowie of Wellman kidnapped a 13-year-old girl from Minneapolis. The girl was forced to work in an eastern Iowa prostitution ring run by Bowie’s father. The case was prosecuted as a kidnapping.
• The Iowa Council for International Understanding reports that a Chinese national was brought to Ames by a relative under false promises of work. While in Ames, the young woman was forced to work in a restaurant and abused by physically and sexually. Once her situation was discovered, she fought to remain in the country legally.

Representatives of the Northern Iowa Human Trafficking Response Team (HTRT) and its group of eastern Iowa partners were also available at the afternoon press conference. The HTRT was created last year to deal with human trafficking crimes and consists of representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Internal Revenue Service. Goals of the team are to develop plans for responding to the crime of human trafficking, develop an outreach campaign and provide training to both team members and victim-service partners.

Members of the eastern Iowa partner group are representatives from the Black Hawk County Attorney’s Office, Cedar Valley Friends of the Family in Waverly, Dubuque Community Y – Domestic Violence Program, HACAP of Iowa City, the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, St. Luke’s Child Protection Center in Cedar Rapids, Seeds of Hope in Waterloo and Waypoint in Cedar Rapids. The partners are the agencies dedicated to helping provide services to victims of human trafficking and community awareness of such crimes.

Human trafficking was not monitored in the United States until 1994. It wasn’t until June 2006 that Gov. Tom Vilsack signed a law that made Iowa the 14th state to outlaw human trafficking. Today, it is estimated that the crime affects roughly 20,000 people, bringing them into the United States either against their will or under false pretenses. Roughly 1 million individuals are estimated to be trafficked globally — over 70 percent of them female. The U.S. Department of State reports that human trafficking is one of the most profitable criminal activities in the U.S., third only to drug and arms trafficking. An estimated $9.5 billion is generated in annual revenue from all trafficking activities, with at least $4 billion attributed to the worldwide brothel industry.