Maryland US attorney stepping down
Hur led prosecutions of some Baltimore officials
Maryland’s top federal prosecutor Robert K. Hur announced he is stepping down after nearly three years.
Hur was appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump and took office April 9, 2018. First Assistant Jonathan F. Lenzner will become the acting U.S. Attorney while the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden fills the vacancy.
“I will always be grateful to have served as U.S. Attorney and helped further the office’s proud legacy of pursuing justice with integrity, and without fear or favor,” Hur said in a statement.
His departure means Hur won’t become a political anomaly like his predecessor, Rod Rosenstein — a Republican U.S. attorney who stayed on in a Democratic administration. Rosenstein was appointed by George W. Bush in 2005 and kept on by Barack Obama, serving 12 years in the position.
Hur’s successor will become the first U.S. attorney for Maryland selected by a Democratic president since Lynn Battaglia, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served eight years before joining the state’s Court of Appeals.
In Maryland, the highest-profile and most complex cases tend to be handled by federal prosecutors, who boast of a high conviction rate. That was no different under Hur: His tenure saw the charging and convictions of
Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa and state Del. Cheryl Glenn, the chair of the Baltimore delegation in Annapolis. The office also won convictions against the leader of a murderous West Baltimore group called Trained to Go, the man who fatally shot 3-year-old McKenzie Elliott, and members of the MS-13 gang.
“I’m humbled by the bravery, creativity, and resilience that my colleagues have shown every day during my three years as U.S. Attorney,” Hur said in a statement. “For an attorney — especially a first-generation American like myself — representing the United States is a weighty privilege and a dream job. I have been blessed to do so.”
While a wave of Trump-appointed U.S. Attorneys stepped down in the wake of his loss, the Biden administration did not ask anyone to leave, including Hur. He did not say what he plans to do next.
“U.S. Attorney Hur has been a great and effective partner at holding violent offenders accountable, especially with his work in addressing gang violence and intimidation,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a statement. “He was instrumental in collaborating with and bringing resources to the Baltimore Police Department. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Hur worked as a federal prosecutor in Maryland from 2007 to 2014, and was Rosenstein’s top aide in Washington when he became deputy attorney general in the Trump administration.
It will be up to Maryland’s two Democratic senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, to interview candidates and make recommendations to the White House for Hur’s successor.
It was not clear whether Lenzner would seek the position. He served as a prosecutor in Manhattan from 2004 to 2010, then worked in the Maryland’s U.S. Attorney’s office for three years. Hur said Lenzner “has been my principal partner and advisor, and much of the office’s recent innovation and success are attributable to him. I have utmost confidence in him.”
Both Cardin and Van Hollen had accused Trump of politicizing the Justice Department for his own ends, although they said they always maintained confidence in Hur.
In a joint statement Wednesday, the two senators said Hur “faithfully followed the facts and the law” and credited him with creating a “strike force” partnership in 2019 with federal, state and local law enforcement officials targeting violent gangs and drug traffickers.
The senators said they looked forward “to working with the White House and incoming (Department of Justice) leadership team on appointing a permanent successor as the U.S. attorney.”
The White House had no immediate comment about Hur or his possible replacements.
Dana Remus, then the incoming White House counsel, said in a Dec. 22 letter to
Cardin, Van Hollen and other Democratic senators that the administration was generally seeking U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals “who will act with independence and integrity and uphold the finest traditions of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Remus also said Biden was eager to appoint U.S. attorneys, judges and marshals with “a wide range of life and professional experiences, including those based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, and disability.”
In her letter to Democratic senators, Remus asked them to forward the names of at least three candidates to the White House for any U.S. attorney, marshal or judgeship opening.
Last month, the Maryland State’s Attorney’s Association, made up of each elected state’s attorney in Maryland, voted unanimously to request that Hur remain. They said in a letter to the state’s U.S. senators that Hur had been a “consummate professional.”
“He attends our meetings, answers our phone calls at all hours of the day and night, and has done nothing but ask each of us ‘How can I help?’” Carroll County State’s Attorney Brian DeLeonardo wrote on behalf of the group. “Usually when a prosecutor requests his help it is because a horrible crime has been committed and Maryland Law or the evidence in the case prevents us from seeking justice locally. I cannot tell you how many times his office has charged and won cases that assures that very dangerous people will not harm the citizens of Maryland again.”