Marlinga seeks U.S. Attorney post
Judge would head up the same office that once indicted him if selected
Judge Carl Marlinga has applied and interviewed for the vacant U.S. Attorney post for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Marlinga, the former Macomb County prosecutor, is one of several candidates to apply for the position that was left vacant when Matthew Schneider left Feb. 1.
It is one of 93 U.S. Attorney posts in the nation, and the appointment would be made by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Marlinga confirmed he applied but declined to comment further.
Marlinga, 74, was elected in 2016 to the Macomb Circuit Court bench after he was elected to the probate bench in 2012 and served four years before running for circuit court. He also was the Macomb County prosecutor for 20 years, from 1985 through 2004.
He was indicted in April 2004 on five corruption charges but was acquitted of all charges in
September 2006 following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Detroit.
He practiced criminal defense for several years before he was elected to probate court. He cannot run for the judicial seat again when his term expires at the end of 2022 due to a state-imposed retirement age. But Marlinga told The Macomb Daily that he would not have applied for the post even if he could run.
Marlinga was interviewed March 23 in front of a 23-member committee comprised of attorneys throughout the 34 counties in the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula that make up the Eastern District of Michigan, which is based in Detroit.
The committee will make a recommendation to U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, who will forward their nomination to President Biden.
Marlinga said there are “several” candidates but he did not know the names.
A report published in the Detroit News says the candidates also include five former or current members of the U.S. Attorney office. They are criminal division chief Mark Chutkow and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison, who oversaw fraud complaints related to last fall’s election, as well as former assistant U.S. attorneys Eric Doeh, Christopher Graveline and Louis Gavel. Saima Mohsin, who was named Acting U.S. Attorney to temporarily fill the vacancy following Schneider’s resignation, did not apply for the post.