Dana Boente

Dana James Boente (/ˈbɛnteɪ/ Bent-Ë)[1] born February 7, 1954) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.[2] He also served as acting assistant attorney general for the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice. On October 27, 2017, Boente announced he would resign from the Department of Justice after a successor is in place.[3] On January 23, 2018, Boente was named general counsel to the FBI by the director Christopher A. Wray, filling the vacancy after James Baker's reassignment to another part of the bureau.

Dana Boente
General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In office January 23, 2018 – June 30, 2020
Director	Christopher A. Wray
Preceded by	James Baker
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
In office September 23, 2013 – January 28, 2018 Acting: September 23, 2013 – December 15, 2015
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Preceded by	Neil MacBride
Succeeded by	G. Zachary Terwilliger
United States Deputy Attorney General
Acting
In office February 9, 2017 – April 25, 2017
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Sally Yates
Succeeded by	Rod Rosenstein
United States Attorney General
Acting
In office January 30, 2017 – February 9, 2017
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Sally Yates (acting)
Succeeded by	Jeff Sessions
Personal details
Born	Dana James Boente (1954-02-07) February 7, 1954 Carlinville, Illinois, U.S.
Education	Saint Louis University (BS, MBA, JD)

Early life and education

Boente was born in Carlinville, Illinois in 1954 to James and Doris Boente.[2] Boente received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1976 from Saint Louis University and his Master of Business Administration in 1977. He then attended the Saint Louis University School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1982.[2]

Career

In 1982, Boente began his career as a law clerk for Chief U.S. District Judge J. Waldo Ackerman for the Central District of Illinois. In 1984, he joined the Tax Division's Criminal Section as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. Boente became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Fraud Unit of the Eastern District of Virginia in 2001.

In December 2012, Boente was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a position he held until September 2013. He became the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia by virtue of the Vacancy Reform Act on September 23, 2013, and served in that position until December 15, 2015. In this role, he was involved in the sentencing of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen. He stated that, "No one is above the law... not a high public official, not even the highest public official [in Virginia]."[4] McDonnell's conviction was unanimously overturned by the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016, with Chief Justice John Roberts declaring that McDonnell's actions as governor were "tawdry", but agreed that instructions to the jury in his case about what constitutes "official acts" were so broad, they could cover almost any action a public official takes.[5] The Justice Department, against the wishes of Boente's office, decided not to re-try either McDonnell and dismissed all charges.[6]

He was nominated on October 8, 2015, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2015, as the 60th U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia[7] and was confirmed by the United States Senate via voice vote on December 15, 2015.[8] Boente was one of the 46 United States Attorneys ordered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 10, 2017 to tender their resignation; Trump declined to accept his.[9]

Boente was not in the line of succession of the Attorney General of the United States pursuant to Executive Order 13762 signed by President Barack Obama before leaving office. He was appointed by President Donald Trump as Acting Attorney General on January 30, 2017, after Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was dismissed by Trump earlier that evening.[10][11] When Jeff Sessions was confirmed and sworn in as Attorney General on February 9, 2017, Boente became Acting Deputy Attorney General.[12][13] Also on February 9, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13775 to replace Obama's EO, an action which modified the order of succession to add Boente to the list.[14]

Sessions recused himself from all matters pertaining to American presidential campaigns because of revelations that he had communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 United States presidential election,[15][16] Boente was designated to perform the functions of the Attorney General with respect to campaign issues until the permanent deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, was confirmed and sworn into office[17] which took place on April 25, 2017.

On October 27, 2017 Boente announced his intention to resign as U.S. Attorney and as acting assistant attorney general for the National Security Division; he said he would remain in the positions until a replacement is confirmed.[18][19]

On January 23, 2018, Boente was named general counsel to the FBI by Director Christopher Wray, filling the vacancy after James Baker's reassignment to another part of the bureau.[20]

On May 29, 2020, Boente resigned from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, effective June 30.[21]

Personal life

Boente has lived in Northern Virginia since 1984.[2]

References

1. "Dana Boente: Who Is the New Acting Attorney General?". The New York Times. January 31, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
2. "Meet the U.S. Attorney: Dana J. Boente". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved February 1, 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
3. Frank Green (October 27, 2017). "Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for Eastern District of Virginia, resigns". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
4. "US attorney on McDonnell sentence: 'No one is above the law'". WTVR.com. January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
5. Robert Barnes (June 27, 2016). "Supreme Court overturns corruption conviction of former Va. governor McDonnell". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
6. Matt Zapotosky, Rachel Weiner and Rosalind S. Helderman (September 8, 2016). "Prosecutors will drop cases against former Va. governor Robert McDonnell, wife". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
7. "Obama nominates Dana Boente for U.S. attorney in Virginia". Virginian-Pilot. October 9, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
8. "PN899 — Dana J. Boente — Department of Justice". United States Senate. December 15, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
9. Savage, Charlie; Haberman, Maggie (March 10, 2017). "Trump Abruptly Orders 46 Obama-Era Prosecutors to Resign". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
10. Lichtblau, Eric; Apuzzo, Matt; Landler, Mark (January 30, 2017). "Trump Fires Acting Attorney General". The New York Times.
11. "Acting Attorney General Sally Yates Refuses to Enforce Trump Refugee EO". Lawfare Blog. January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
12. Lichtblau, Eric (February 8, 2017). "Jeff Sessions Confirmed as Attorney General, Capping Bitter Battle". The New York Times Company. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
13. "Meet the Acting Deputy Attorney General | DAG | Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
14. "Without fanfare, Trump reverses Obama order on Justice Department succession". USA Today. February 10, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
15. Goldman, Matthew Rosenberg, Adam; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 1, 2017). "Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
16. "Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose". Washington Post. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
17. "Attorney General Sessions Statement on Recusal". www.justice.gov. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
18. Delk, Josh (October 27, 2017). "Dana Boente resigns as federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia". The Hill. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
19. "Top DOJ Official Dana Boente Resigns". Fox News. October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
20. Zapotosky, Matt. "FBI director, under pressure to make changes, is replacing Comey aides". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
21. Perez, Evan. "The FBI's top lawyer is resigning". CNN. Retrieved May 31, 2020.

External links

Media related to Dana Boente at Wikimedia Commons

• Appearances on C-SPAN

Legal offices
Preceded by Neil MacBride	United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia 2013–2018	Succeeded by Tracy McCormick (Acting)
Preceded by Sally Yates Acting	United States Attorney General Acting 2017	Succeeded by Jeff Sessions
Preceded by Sally Yates	United States Deputy Attorney General Acting 2017	Succeeded by Rod Rosenstein