Richard Pilger (born 1965) is an American attorney and retired government official who served as the Director of the Election Crimes Branch at the Criminal Division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

from March 2010 to November 2020, returning to the civil service position in February 2021 through his retirement in July 2022. He is currently an unaffiliated private attorney.

Early life and education

Pilger was born in 1965. Pilger studied English and Philosophy at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1983 to 1987. In 1990, he earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Indiana University Maurer School of Law The Indiana University Maurer School of Law is the law school of Indiana University Bloomington, a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. Established in 1842, the school is named after alumnus Michael S. "Mickey" Maurer, an Indianapo ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

Career

After law school, Pilger clerked for James T. Moody, a United States District Court Judge. He joined the

via the Attorney General's Honors Program.

IRS alleged targeting controversy

Pilger was involved in the

IRS targeting controversy In 2013, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under the Obama administration, revealed that it had selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names or political themes. This led to ...

, after being linked to

Lois Lerner Lois Gail Lerner (born October 12, 1950) is an American attorney and former United States federal civil service employee. She served as director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2005, and subsequently beca ...

. In 2013, the United States

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

(IRS) revealed that it had selected conservative political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names or political themes. Pilger in his capacity as the head of the Election Crimes Branch met with Exempt Organizations Unit director

in October 2010 to discuss the problems of tax exempt groups' spending in the upcoming 2010 midterm election. Subsequent congressional investigations, and a 2017 report by the

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is an office in the United States Federal government. It was established in January 1999 in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) ...

found deficient IRS management practices, but no partisan targeting misconduct.

Notable cases

Prior to assuming his duties for election crimes, Pilger directly handled investigations, prosecutions, and appeals across the complete spectrum of public corruption matters at all levels and in all branches of government. Some of his notable cases include United States v. Spargo, N.D.N.Y. (judicial extortion); United States v. Siegelman & Scrushy, et al., (M.D. Al.) (former Governor and former CEO of

HealthSouth Encompass Health Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is the nation's largest provider of inpatient rehabilitative services, offering facility-based care through its network of 166 Rehabilitation hospital, inpatient rehabilitation hospital ...

convicted of bribery and obstruction of justice); United States v. Plowman, (S.D. Ind.) (Indianapolis city council and police extortion); United States v. Zachares, (D.D.C.) (former senior congressional staffer convicted of honest services fraud involving

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted criminal. He was at the center of an extensive federal corruption investigation, which resulted in his conviction and 21 ...

); United States v. West, et al., (E.D. Va.) (fraud and bank theft ring operated by CIA employees); United States v. Carroll, et al., (N.D. Ill.) (first modern conviction of U.S. Foreign Service Officer for overseas bribery conspiracy); Operation Lost Trust, (D.S.C.) (legislative bribery in South Carolina); and Operation BOPTROT, (E.D. Ky.) (legislative bribery in Kentucky); United States v. Newsome, et al., (E.D. Ky.) (vote-buying conspiracy). Pilger has received numerous awards for his corruption prosecutions, including the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, and the Assistant Attorney General's Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy.

2020 election and resignation

Pilger resigned as Director on November 9, 2020, after United States Attorney General

William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...

gave an authorization for federal prosecutors to investigate specific allegations of voter fraud in the 2020

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, going against decades-old guidance to wait until elections were finalized to overtly investigate allegations. Barr's authorization prompted Pilger's resignation letter which described "an important new policy abrogating the forty-year-old Non-Interference Policy for ballot fraud investigations in the period prior to elections becoming certified and uncontested." He continued at the Department of Justice as a line prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section prosecuting corruption cases until February 2021 when he resumed his role as Director of the Election Crimes Branch and a member of the Section's leadership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilger, Richard United States Department of Justice officials Living people 1965 births University of Notre Dame alumni Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni