Spokane7
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March 4, 2010 in City
Ormsby chosen as U.S. attorney
Selection now rides on Senate approval
Ormsby
(Full-size photo)
Spokane attorney Mike Ormsby was nominated Wednesday to be the next U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington.
The White House announced that Ormsby, a partner at K & L Gates LLP who works with local governments and public entities on municipal finance matters, is being nominated to replace James McDevitt, who has held the job since early in George W. Bush’s administration. McDevitt and Ormsby once worked together at the predecessor of K & L Gates.
“I am very excited about the possibility of public service,” Ormsby, 53, said Wednesday afternoon after receiving official notification from the White House.
Patty Murray, the state’s senior U.S. senator and a member of Democratic leadership in that chamber, praised Ormsby as well qualified for the job: “Mike has a vast knowledge of the law and of the communities he will be serving.”
When Ormsby was first mentioned as a potential U.S. attorney a year ago, the selection was roundly criticized by opponents of the River Park Square mall and parking garage deal between the city of Spokane and Cowles Co. development interests. In the 1990s, Ormsby was the attorney for the Spokane Downtown Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up by the development firms to sell $31.5 million in bonds to purchase the garage and pay investors back with proceeds from the parking revenue.
Cowles Co. also owns and operates The Spokesman-Review.
Former Spokane Mayor John Talbott and other critics of that public-private partnership sent a letter to the White House and members of Congress last year, arguing Ormsby’s name should be withdrawn because of his involvement in the controversial project.
“At a time when it’s vital that the Justice Department send a message that it will not tolerate private fraud and public corruption, Mr. Ormsby’s appointment would send the opposite message,” they wrote.
Ormsby said last year the letter “far overstates my importance to or involvement in the project” and said he looked forward to defending his actions through the nomination process.
All potential nominees are investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation before a formal nomination is made. Nominees face a confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and a vote by the full Senate. Ormsby said he couldn’t comment on things he discussed with the FBI but added: “Rest assured the process was very thorough.”
River Park Square critics sought and received a Justice Department review of McDevitt’s connection to the project and the lack of prosecution for problems that led to a long string of civil suits. Experts in white-collar crime from the Western Washington office looked into allegations and said in September 2008 they could find no indication of fraud or other federal criminal violations in the various aspects of the mall’s renovation or financing, saying McDevitt acted “prudently and appropriately” in his handling of calls for investigating the project.
Alex Glass, a spokeswoman for Murray, said the senator received the letter about Ormsby and River Park Square and continues to support him for the job: “The White House, the FBI and the Department of Justice have thoroughly vetted Mike for this position and today’s formal nomination is a vote of confidence in his qualifications and his record.”
Romney/Paul split weighing on county GOP 
invalid_username on March 04 at 12:55 a.m.
Yet the people have another opinion which should be considered.
Our government is not run by Murray, the FBI nor the Justice Department, it is of, for and by the people in case they have forgotten whom they are working for and responsible to.
Ron_the_Cop on March 04 at 2:50 a.m.
Invalid_username,
Your are correct. Readers should read the comments in the other thread. Ormsby has more culpability for the RPS madness than Jim McDevitt. The IRS castigated Ormsby for his work on RPS.
http://www.camasmagazine.com/media/2009/Obama.pdf
See Camas Magazine reporting for the details on McDevitt and Ormsby.
McDevitt’s Fingerprints
http://www.camasmagazine.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?aid=203
Ron_the_Cop on March 03 at 4:00 p.m.
Talk about getting the fox to guard the hen house. Ormbsy was one of the main players in the RPS bond fraud. Had he followed his professional ethics this fraud would have never happened.
This fraud will ultimately cost the citizens/taxpayers of Spokane $87.5 million dollars. See this report I just completed . . .
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/mar/03/ormsby-nominated-us-attorney-post/?comments#c124424
liarsinnews on March 04 at 7:11 a.m.
I can`t believe Ormsby is guarding the hen house. Our 2 senators should be ashamed of themselves. Seems to me, they both have a ring in their nose.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on March 04 at 7:55 a.m.
This does have a pretty high titer of “odor”… Wonder how we can get a Filibuster on this man…. long enough to fully investigate…. It is beginning to feel as if the River Park Square stuff is spilling out here and there like leaks in an earth dam… would not want to be downstream of this one…. A new prosecutor is really part of the solution here in our county… john
Ninch on March 04 at 8:04 a.m.
The BIGGEST culprits in the River Park Square fiasco were the Spokane City Council. Blaming people who worked on the project as part of their employment is ignorant repeating of false accusations. Instead, the elected decison-makers should be held accountable for their BAD decisions rather than (as always) blaming others. Before bashing maybe the totality of the facts should be reviewed, but then again several regular bashers cannot even read the articles for content before denigrating others.
Ron_the_Cop on March 04 at 8:56 a.m.
Ninch,
Not really, some of the City Council were played as marks by the criminal enterprise led by the Cowles Co. in RPS Bond Frauds I & II. These little cons will costs the citizens/taxpayers of Spokane a cool $87.5 million dollars:
RPS Bond Frauds Sustained by the Taxpayers of Spokane
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/rps-bond-frauds-summary-and-analysis-1.doc
Among the henchmen of the Cowles Co. were Jim McDevitt the current sitting US Atty for the Eastern District of WA and his partner at P&G Michael Ormsby. Further I find it really amazing that in the Seattle Office of the US Attorney review of McDevitt by Asst. US Attorney Robert Westinghouse, McDevitt was not thrown under the bus for not disclosing this relationship when he was appointed by President Bush. While I’m not a right wing wingnut as some have referred to me as, I am a little right of center. I wrote this S-R LTE:
“Letters to the editor
McDevitt should recuse himself
Editor Steve Smith was bold enough to seek an outside review of the S-R’s role in the River Park Square story. It’s time for U.S. Attorney James McDevitt to do likewise. With allegations made recently on the Fuhrman show, Mr. McDevitt should immediately recuse himself and request another U.S. attorney’s office to lead an investigation to determine whether there is sufficient cause to warrant any charges.
To Mr. McDevitt’s credit, on the Fuhrman show he said that public corruption cases are his office’s top priority. He said a case has not been submitted for review yet. If one arrived he said he would recuse himself. As an economic crimes investigator I know investigators are reluctant to aggressively pursue an investigation in such complicated public conflict-of-interest cases unless there is a “buy-in” early on by the prosecutor.
The U.S. attorney’s office is not a passive participant in cases of this magnitude. The RPS case warrants prosecutorial zeal and impaneling of a grand jury to compel testimony from reluctant witnesses. To wait for an investigation to be laid on his desk is a disservice to the people of Spokane who, after all, were left holding the bag.
Ron Wright
Spokane ”
Don’t take my word for this. The IRS had the same opinion that was groundbreaking for the IRS as I wrote in this earlier piece:
“This is the same Michael Ormsby that the IRS took the unprecedented action of castigating publicly in implicating him in the RPS bond fraud as reported in Bond Buyer for, “… incompetence and disreputable conduct.” The Bond Buyer mistakenly reported though that the tax-exempt status of the RPS bonds was preserved in this settlement. In fact the tax-exempt status was disallowed and the IRS got its back taxes of … through a secret deal with Preston & Gates.]”
Read the Bond Buyer report here:
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bond-buyer.pdf
liarsinnews on March 04 at 11:13 a.m.
Too many political illiterates in the Lilac City to recognize Senators Murray and Cantwell for what they are. Political hacks. Things will never change until we have term limits on the thief’s in DC and throw out career politicians.