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PORTLAND – Three top Republican lawyers have confirmed that they are hoping to be Maine’s new U.S. Attorney under the administration of George W. Bush.
The state’s current U.S. Attorney, Democratic appointee Jay McCloskey, said he expects to leave the post in the next couple of months. McCloskey, who has served as the state’s top federal law enforcement official since 1993, lost his job when Democrats lost the White House to Bush.
Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson; Paula Silsby, an assistant U.S. Attorney who heads the department’s criminal division; and House Republican Whip William Schneider, a former prosecutor for the Maine Attorney General’s Office, have expressed interest in the position.
Others are likely to apply in the coming weeks as U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe begins choosing a nominee. Snowe spokesman Dave Lackey said he could not say who had contacted the senator. As Maine’s senior Republican senator, Snowe is responsible for selecting the nominee.
The three Republican attorneys all graduated from the University of Maine School of Law and have extensive experience.
Anderson, 48, has served as Cumberland County District Attorney since 1991 and was a prosecutor in New York City for five years before that.
Anderson of Portland oversees 15 attorneys. Two of her primary initiatives have been the establishment of a domestic violence task force and a drug court.
“I’m a popularly elected official who has worked for years under the scrutiny of the public,” she said. “I think that experience would serve me well.”
Silsby, 50, has served as an assistant U.S. Attorney since 1977. Before assuming her current position as the criminal chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Portland office, she served as chief litigation counsel.
The Catherine Duffy Petit fraud case was one of her most high-profile ones. A three-year FBI investigation ended in a dozen convictions in the state’s largest investment scam in history.
“I’ve had the opportunity to do every kind of case handled in this office,” Silsby said. “Because of that kind of institutional knowledge, I feel I can offer something to the position.”
Schneider, 41, is in his second term in the Maine House of Representatives. The Durham resident prosecuted drug cases for the Maine Attorney General’s Office for six years before he was elected to the Legislature.
“It sounds pretty corny, but I am really committed to public service, and this would be a tremendous opportunity to serve the people of Maine,” Schneider said.
The new U.S. Attorney will oversee an office of 22 assistant U.S. attorneys and 25 support staff. Twenty-five years ago, the state’s U.S. Attorney had a staff of only two assistant attorneys.
The office’s role has expanded with the reach of federal law. It prosecutes federal crimes such as bank robberies and drug trafficking, defends federal agencies in civil cases and files its own civil complaints against entities violating federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.
McCloskey, 53, said he expects to continue practicing law, most likely in Bangor or Portland. He focused on combating violent crimes and drug trafficking during his tenure. He also started an aggressive drug abuse prevention program.
The Bangor native has been working in the department since 1980, when he started as an assistant U.S. Attorney. McCloskey said he’s disappointed to be leaving the position.
“This just comes with the territory,” he said. “I’m going to miss the people I’ve worked with over the past 20 years, as well as the excitement of trying cases in federal court.”
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