Thread: Trump picks John Lausch to be new U.S. attorney for Chicago

Trump picks John Lausch to be new U.S. attorney for Chicago

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lausch speaks with reporters at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Aug. 11, 2008, in Chicago.
(Chuck Berman / Chicago Tribune)

Katherine Skiba Contact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

John Lausch, who captained his high school's state champion football team and went on to a career as a prosecutor and litigator, is set to be nominated as Chicago's next U.S. attorney, the White House announced Thursday.

President Donald Trump's pick is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where his practice focuses on corporate investigations and other complex litigation matters. Now Lausch would take on a pivotal leadership role in law enforcement if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago is one of the busiest in the nation, handling everything from terrorism, gang conspiracies and bank robberies to financial fraud and political corruption. The office is a familiar one for Lausch.
He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from 1999 to 2010. Lausch started out working large-scale gang and drug cases and eventually earned a supervisory position under then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He was a deputy chief in the Narcotics and Gangs Section for several years, according to a White House announcement. He also helped lead the district's anti-gang and Project Safe Neighborhoods programs.
The next step is for Trump to formally send Lausch's nomination to the Senate, which must confirm him for the job. With the Senate on recess until after Labor Day, the nomination isn't likely to be taken up in earnest anytime soon. First he'll answer detailed questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which eventually will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination.

Assuming the committee signs off, the nomination goes to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote. If confirmed, Lausch will succeed Zachary Fardon, who stepped down from the $169,000-per-year post in March after Trump asked for the resignations of all Obama-era U.S. attorney holdovers. Since then, Trump has nominated a smattering of replacements across the country.



Born and raised in the Joliet area, Lausch was captain of the 1987 state champion Joliet Catholic football team and went on to play linebacker at Harvard University, where he also was the team captain. He lives in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood with his wife and three children.

"Even for a place like Harvard, he was in a very select category," said Joel Lamb, a former Harvard quarterback who played with Lausch on the 1991 Crimson squad. "He had unbelievable character ... a true team leader who played with passion."

Lausch graduated from Harvard in 1992 and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1996, according to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. He clerked for Judge Michael S. Kanne of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

He emerged from a shortlist of potential picks also featuring attorneys Michael Scudder and Andrew Porter. Scudder is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Porter, is a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath.



Maggie Hickey, a top state inspector general under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, also had been under consideration and may have been cut from the list because Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, and Tammy Duckworth, who does not, were keen for a nonpartisan candidate who had not worked for an elected official.

With the Trump administration focus on the city's epidemic of violence, Lausch's relationship with the city's various federal and local agencies could be a key factor, one former U.S. attorney's office colleague said when Lausch's name first surfaced as the president's pick.

"John is very well regarded among local law enforcement, both Chicago police and the Cook County state's attorney's office, because he's been in the trenches," said the colleague, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One of Lausch's highest-profile cases involved the prosecution of corrupt Chicago cop Joseph Miedzianowski, whose shocking double life as a drug dealer led to the breakup of the department's vaunted gang crimes unit. After his arrest, Miedzianowksi, who is serving life in prison, allegedly plotted to escape from jail and to kill Lausch's partner, Brian Netols, the lead prosecutor on the case, records show.

Since joining Kirkland seven years ago, Lausch has specialized in government enforcement defense and internal investigations, according to his law firm bio. Most notably, he led the team that represented British Petroleum in a string of litigation over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which so far has led to tens of billions of dollars in fines and other penalties.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel congratulated Lausch, saying in a statement that "it is my hope that he will use the power of that office to increase the federal prosecution of gun crimes in Chicago and strengthen public safety in our communities."

Chicago Tribune's Jason Meisner contributed.
kskiba@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KatherineSkiba


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Sounds great!! Hope he's approved quickly. Chicago is a mess so I'm sure there's lots to do there.