Of the named candidates, this guy looks pretty good.
Michael John Garcia (born October 8, 1961) is Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, that state’s highest court, and the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (2005–2008).
Political party Republican
Between his service as United States Attorney and his appointment to the Court of Appeals, he was a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He has also served as chairman of El Museo del Barrio.
He previously served as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2003–2005), Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (2002–2003), Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement (2001–2002), and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1992–2001).
For his work in a number of high-profile terrorism investigations and trials as Assistant U.S. Attorney, he received two Attorney General’s Awards for Exceptional Service (1994, 1997), the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service (2002), and the CIA’s Agency Seal Medallion (2002).
Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
Assumed office February 8, 2016
Appointed by Andrew Cuomo
Within months of joining the Office, Garcia was assigned to the trial team prosecuting four defendants for perpetrating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In the ensuing trial, the four defendants were convicted on all counts. For his work on that case, Garcia received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the highest reward presented by the U.S. Department of Justice. Garcia said the case “would define my career in Government service.”
In 1995, Garcia went to Manila in the Philippines to direct the investigation and prosecution of the terrorist conspiracy led by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to bomb 12 U.S. airliners flying from Asia to the United States. In 1996, Yousef and two other defendants were convicted of all counts. For his work on that case, Garcia received his second Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service.
Garcia was assigned as one of the lead prosecutors in the case against four al-Qaeda operatives standing trial in New York for perpetrating the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed more than 200 people. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all 302 counts for the four defendants. For his work on that case, Garcia received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the CIA’s Agency Seal Medallion for his efforts coordinating with the intelligence community.
n February 2009, Garcia joined the international law firm Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in the New York office of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.
He led the Government, Regulatory and Internal Investigations practice for the firm’s New York office. At Kirkland & Ellis, he was engaged in matters involving insider trading, export controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, offshore tax shelters, and theft of trade secrets.
Chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee of FIFA (2012–2014)
Mr. Garcia is a Republican whose office’s investigation into a prostitution ring led to the 2008 resignation of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Indeed.
“”””Between his service as United States Attorney and his appointment to the Court of Appeals, he was a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He has also served as chairman of El Museo del Barrio.
He previously served as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2003–2005), Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (2002–2003), Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement (2001–2002), and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1992–2001).””””””””””””
Looks like the guy can’t hold a steady job.
ungh...
I would have to agree. Garcia has several attributes going for him:
1) The optics of his surname,
2) His results as a prosecutor with terrorists as defendants.
3) His ties to New York, and
4) His overall judicial history.
His success in the courtroom means he was able to navigate the tricky issues of pulling solid admissible evidence from the murky cloud of information that law enforcement is able to generate.
The old saying is that law enforcement is the best at collecting information, but the worst at knowing what to do with it all.
Evidence the developing unmasking actions that are only just now being revealed.