By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will try and restore the trust and integrity of its Public Integrity Section with the appointment of career  prosecutor Jack Smith, the Associated Press reported.

“I have the best guy I could have in that job. I’m looking for a natural leader, someone with tremendous energy, someone with tremendous judgment,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Criminal Division, told the Associated Press.

The unit’s reputation took a serious hit last year when the Justice Department vacated the public corruption conviction of Sen. Ted Stevens because of prosecutorial misconduct.

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Atty. Gen. William Saxbe/photo umkc-law

President Nixon’s fourth Attorney General William Saxbe, a Republican maverick who was at the helm during the Watergate probe, died Tuesday at age 94, the Associated Press reported.

The AP reported that he died at his home in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, outside of Columbus.

Saxbe became attorney general at a tumultuous time in history. Nixon’s first two attorneys general were accused of Watergate-related crimes and the third, Elliot Richardson, resigned to protest Nixon’s meddling in the probe, AP reported.

Nixon turned to Saxbe, a lame-duck one-term U.S. senator, who according to the AP, once labeled the Nixon administration “one of the most inept” in history. He served as U.S. Attorney from Jan. 4, 1974 to Feb. 2, 1975.

Saxbe was a politician who “just did everything right,” Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett, according to AP.

“He was probably the only one who could have got confirmed as attorney general of the United States after the ‘Saturday night massacre,”‘ Bennett said.

Alberto Gonzales

WASHINGTON — After getting a bumpy reception in Washington as President Bush’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales has found some love in Texas.

Texas Tech announced Tuesday that Gonzales will return as a visiting professor for a second year, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle reported that political science department chairman Dennis Patteron said Gonzales has been a tremendous asset to the department.

Gonzales,55, is a native of San Antonio.

“The Bricklayer” by Noah Boyd is published by Harper Collins.

Greg Stejskal served as an FBI agent for 31 years and retired as resident agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have known Noah Boyd for over 30 years. I first met him in his former incarnation, Paul Lindsay, an FBI agent in Detroit. I was fresh out of the FBI Academy and had been assigned to the fugitive squad in Detroit .

Although I didn’t know it at the time, it was to my very good fortune to have Lindsay/Boyd as my training agent. (I will use Lindsay’s pen name Noah Boyd for simplicity.)

Boyd had earned a reputation as one of the best fugitive agents in the Bureau, that is, he was very good at finding bad guys who didn’t want to be found. Later in his career, Boyd would apply his considerable talents to cold cases and serial killers.

Boyd also had a talent for creative writing. In fact, he penned his first book in 1992 while he was still an agent in Detroit (under his true name). Since then he’s chalked up a total of seven novels – the latest being “The Bricklayer”. His writing has a gritty realism to it.

In “The Bricklayer,” he introduces a protagonist, Steve Vail, who is the quintessential American- Lone Ranger kind of hero. The first scenes in the book involve a bank robbery in which Vail physically subdues the bandits while the security cameras roll. Then before anyone can figure out who he is, he slips away.

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By Allan Lengel

Now for the lighter side of life.

FBI agent Christopher Johnson was one of five agents who partook in the Ironman competition at Lake Placid, N.Y. on July 25, the FBI in Detroit announced.

Johnson completed the 140.6 mile race — 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run — in 11:17:43, according to the FBI. He finished 436th out of about 2,700 people.

The FBI said Johnson over seven months performed “each event several times per week.”

Sandra R. Berchtold, spokeswoman for the Detroit FBI, said she did not have the names of the other agents. The FBI National Press Office was trying to track them down Thursday afternoon.

Roland Corvington/fbi photo

Veteran agent Roland J. Corvington, head of the St. Louis FBI, is leaving to the become  chief of security at Saint Louis University, according to the St. Louis American.

“I am terribly sad to see him go,” U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan for Eastern Missouri – executive prosecutor to Corvington’s top cop in St. Louis’ federal crime-fighting community.

The paper reported that Corvington, who had been with the FBI for 23, became eligible for retirement last December.  He still had seven years until the mandatory retirement age of 50.

The paper reported he’ll assume the position of assistant vice president and director of public safety and security services.

“This was a great opportunity for post-retirement,” Corvington told the paper.

To read his FBI bio click here.

Thomas Harrington (right)/fbi photo

Thomas J. Harrington was named to the number three spot at the FBI, replacing Timothy P. Murphy, who moved up to the number two spot, the FBI announced Friday.

Up until now, Harrington was the FBI’s number four person, serving as the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.

“Throughout his 25 years with the Bureau, T.J. has distinguished himself as an innovative leader,” FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said in a statement. “He has led our efforts to become a more intelligence-led organization and initiated proven management practices to track progress, address gaps, and evaluate successes for our highest priorities and initiatives.”

Ticklethewire.com reported July 26 that Harrington was being considered for the number three spot.   Along with that report, came speculation that Shawn Henry, who now heads up the Washington field office, would return to headquarters and take the number four spot. Then Kevin Perkins, who heads up the Criminal Investigative Division at headquarters,  would take over the Washington field office.

Stay tuned.

To Read Harrington bio click here.

James K. Robinson

James K. Robinson, who became the Detroit U.S. Attorney in the late 1970s at age 34, and later became a high-ranking Justice Department official, died Friday at age 66, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

The Grand Rapids native died at his vacation home in Park City, Utah, the Grand Rapids Press reported. He had suffered from gastrointestinal cancer.

Up until the time of his death, he was a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in Washington, the paper reported.

Robinson was dean and a professor at Wayne State University School of Law from  1993 to 1998, the paper reported. He went on to serve as an assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division during the Clinton administration and later returned to private practice.

To read more click here.