Home > Austin Legal > Archives > U.S. attorney's office category
U.S. attorney's office
November 12, 2008
Possible U.S. attorney appointees Escamilla and Pitman have different histories
Statesman reporter Chuck Lindell reported in a front-page story today that U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Pitman and Travis County Attorney David Escamilla are possible U.S. attorney candidates.
Lindell’s story (read it here) was about the potential that some local folks may receive some of the 7,900 presidential appointments that President-elect Barack Obama will dole out in coming months.
There are four federal districts in Texas, each with a U.S. attorney. Pitman and Escamilla would be likely candidates for the Western District of Texas, a sprawling jurisdiction that includes Austin and runs south to Del Rio and west to El Paso. The current U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas is Johnny Sutton, appointed by President Bush in 2001.
Pitman has been a U.S. magistrate judge since 2003. Before that he was a 13-year assistant U.S. Attorney, including a stint as interim U.S. attorney in 2001 that put him in the crucial post on Sept. 11, 2001. (Read a 2003 Statesman profile of Pitman here.) He has had little political involvement.
Escamilla served on the credentials committee for the Obama campaign at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and performed similar duties at the Texas party convention.
He was the first assistant county attorney for 14 years before the Commissioners Court appointed him county attorney in 2003. He has since been twice elected by voters. Escamilla’s office handles the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes, like driving while intoxicated, and represents the county on legal matters. (Read a 2003 story about Escamilla here.)
Sutton, the current U.S. attorney, was a prosecutor in Harris County before coming to Austin to work for then-Gov. Bush as criminal justice policy director. Sutton later worked on Bush’s transition team in Washington.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment Categories: U.S. attorney's office
