Ormsby Nominated

President Obama seeks Senate confirmation for Spokane lawyer to be next U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington.

The White House announced Wednesday that Mike Ormsby, a Spokane-based attorney for K & L Gates, has been nominated by the President to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Ormsby is a 1979 Gonzaga University graduate and 1981 Gonzaga School of Law graduate. His brother Timm Ormsby currently serves in the Washington state legislature.

Today’s announcement by the White House comes a year after U.S. Senator Patty Murray confirmed that Ormsby’s name had been forwarded to the President by the Senator, who has strongly endorsed him for the post.

Ormsby’s nomination has drawn criticism from former Spokane Mayor John Talbott and others [including former Center for Justice client and current CFJ Communications Director Tim Connor] because of his leading role in the River Park Square garage transaction. The collapse of the garage transaction in 200 led to a major and successful federal securities fraud action against the City of Spokane and other parties, including Ormsby’s law firm. According to court documents and testimony, Ormsby was the lead counsel for the non-profit organization–the Spokane Downtown Foundation–that sold more than $31 million in tax exempt bonds to finance the garage transaction. Ormsby’s firm also served as bond counsel for the transaction. The IRS eventually determined that the bonds ran afoul of federal rules governing tax exempt securities and directly criticized Ormsby and others involved in putting together and promoting the garage transaction.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ormsby will succeed current U.S. Attorney James McDevitt, a former law partner of Ormsby who has also come under criticism for his own role, alongside Ormsby, in the River Park Square garage transaction.

–CFJ