Earl J. Silbert
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Earl Judah Silbert (March 8, 1936 – September 6, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
for the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
from 1974 to 1979. He was the first prosecutor in the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
, alongside two other
U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
s.


Early life

Silbert was born in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on March 8, 1936. His father was a lawyer and a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
for the Republican Party; his mother was a housewife and social worker. Silbert attended Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1953. He then studied history at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, graduating with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1957, before obtaining a law degree three years later from Harvard Law School.m


Career

After graduating from law school, Silbert first worked at the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
(Tax Division) from 1960. His refined demeanor earned him the moniker "Earl the Pearl". He then served as principal assistant
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
for the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. It was in this capacity that he became the first prosecutor in the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
. He collaborated with Donald E. Campbell and Seymour Glanzer in obtaining indictments of the five burglars and two leading co-conspirators ( G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt) in September 1972. Both Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. were subsequently convicted in January of the following year. Silbert later revealed that he had initially underestimated the severity of the case, believing the break-in to be too inept and imprudent to have been sanctioned by those in authority. Following Watergate, Silbert became interim
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is the United States Attorney responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the ...
in January 1974, before being confirmed to the role in October 1974. He ultimately served in that capacity until 1979. He was indirectly involved in the trial of CIA asset
Michael Townley Michael Vernon Townley (born December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1978, Townley pled guilty t ...
for the assassination of
Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar (13 April 1932 – 21 September 1976) was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the Military government of Chile (1973–1990), military dictato ...
, the former Chilean ambassador to the U.S. Silbert's involvement centered on a document he agreed to (in his capacity as U.S. Attorney for the Justice Department) with the Chilean government of dictator Augusto Pinochet to limit the amount of information the Justice Department would release about the assassination of Letelier and other activities involving the Chilean government. Silbert's April 7, 1978, agreement with Enrique Montero Marx, the Chilean under-secretary of the interior, came one day before the Chilean government turned over Townley to the FBI for questioning in the Letelier slaying. Silbert later represented Michael Abbell, a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor who then became a defense attorney for Colombia's notorious Cali cartel and who was eventually sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking. He also represented former
Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...
chairman
Kenneth Lay Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...
.


Personal life

Silbert was married to Patricia Allott for 52 years until his death. Together, they had two daughters: Sarah and Leslie, who is a novelist. Silbert died on September 6, 2022, at a hospital in
Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in, and the seat of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 census. Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England. I ...
. He was 86, and suffered from an
aortic dissection Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of severe chest or ...
prior to his death.


Awards

In 2009, the Council for Court Excellence Justice Potter Stewart Award was presented to Silbert for his work to improve the judicial system, both as a United States Attorney and subsequently in private practice.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silbert, Earl J. 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Deaths from aortic dissection Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Boston United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., Democrats Watergate scandal investigators