Kyle Sampson
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D. Kyle Sampson (born in
Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. Located south of Salt Lake City, it is north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 in Utah, Interstate 15. Southern Utah University is located in Cedar City. It is the home of the Ut ...
) was the chief of staff and counselor of
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Alberto Gonzales. He resigned on March 12, 2007, amid the controversy surrounding the firing of eight
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 ...
s in 2006 and was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in July 2010. In October 2007, Sampson joined the law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP as a partner in the firm's food and drug practice, where his practice focuses on FDA regulatory and enforcement matters.


Early career

As a young man, Sampson served a mission for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
among Hmong refugees who had emigrated from Laos to Minnesota. After graduating from
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
in 1993, Sampson earned a JD with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996, serving as articles editor on the school's
law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provide ...
. He clerked for Judge Karen J. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then joined the
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
law firm of Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless.


Government service

From 1999 to 2001 Sampson served as counsel to Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
) on the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...
. After the 2000 election, Sampson "drew on a friendship he had built in law school with Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of the vice president, to land a job making personnel decisions in the early days of the Bush administration." Later, he worked under Alberto Gonzales as Associate Counsel to the President. From there, he served as special assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, and then, in 2003, became counselor to then-Attorney General
John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...
. In 2005, he was promoted to be chief of staff and counselor to
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Alberto Gonzales (who was sworn in as attorney general on February 14, 2005). Sampson was "a trusted political advisor" to both Ashcroft and Gonzales. In 2006, Sampson was a candidate for appointment to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah.
White House and Justice officials backed Mr. Sampson in his bid to replace aulWarner, making that clear to the staff of Senator Hatch. But the senator wanted Mr. Bush to nominate Brett Tolman, a one-time Utah federal prosecutor who had spent the previous three years working on antiterrorism issues for the Judiciary Committee staff. . . . Mr. Hatch finally made a personal appeal to Mr. Gonzales to drop his bid to nominate Mr. Sampson. After a four-month delay, President Bush nominated Tolman for the position in June 2006.


The U.S. attorneys dismissal controversy

Sampson and Harriet Miers created a list of U.S. attorneys to be fired, as shown by emails produced for a congressional investigation, and Sampson coordinated the execution of the plan. "Miers had pushed to fire them all," and administration officials "were determined to dismiss those they considered the weakest performers." Sampson, "at the behest of the White House," conducted "a review to determine which of the ninety-three U.S. attorneys around the country should be let go." "Sampson had good political instincts, having worked on Capitol Hill for Senator
Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...
before moving to the White House counsel's office to work for Gonzales." Sampson wrote in an email to Miers that he was :
concerned that to execute this plan properly we must all be on the same page and be steeled to withstand any political upheaval that might result. If we start caving to complaining US Attorneys or Senators then we shouldn't do it -- it'll be more trouble than it's worth. We'll stand by for a green light from you."
Sampson resigned after Alberto Gonzales—under pressure from Congress—agreed that the Justice Department would turn those emails over to Congress and would make department staff, including Sampson, available to testify about the firings. Sampson "was seen within the Justice Department as a workaholic chief of staff who managed to keep things moving for Gonzales. When Sampson resigned . . ., Gonzales was left . . . rudderless." According to one commentator, "Had Republicans still been in power, there would have been no controversy, no investigation." After all, "United States attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, and during changeovers in administration, they are replaced as a matter of standard practice." But in 2007, Republicans were no longer in power. As a result of the dismissal of the eight U.S. attorneys, many senators called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign as well. Senator Charles E. Schumer, the first senator to call for Gonzales's resignation, believes Gonzales should have resigned, not Sampson. According to Schumer, "it raises the temperature. Kyle Sampson will not become the . . . fall guy.". The ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that "Mr. Gonzales, who approved the idea of the group firing, has been under fierce criticism from lawmakers of both parties over the dismissals, which have provoked charges that they were politically motivated." Gonzales resigned on September 17, 2007. On July 21, 2010, Nora Dannehy, the special prosecutor tasked with investigating the attorney dismissals, concluded that "there was insufficient evidence to establish that persons knowingly made material false statements to he Office of Inspector Generalor Congress or corruptly endeavored to obstruct justice" and that no criminal charges would be filed against Sampson or Gonzales.


References


Further reading


Washington Post Profile of Sampson


Mother Jones (March 29, 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Kyle Living people American Latter Day Saints United States Department of Justice lawyers Brigham Young University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy People associated with Hunton Andrews Kurth People from Cedar City, Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States 20th-century Mormon missionaries Year of birth missing (living people)