Bogden in familiar territory

Last week, Daniel Bogden attended an orientation in Washington, D.C., for newly appointed U.S. attorneys. Yet he isn't new to the job.

Bogden was sworn in on Oct. 1 as the U.S. attorney for Nevada, 21/2 years after his firing from the same position.

Although questions linger about the reasons for his termination, Bogden welcomed the second chance to serve as the state's top federal prosecutor.

"This is where I was meant to be, and I'm glad I'm here," Bogden said during a recent interview in Las Vegas.

Bogden, 53, replaced Greg Brower, who now is working in private practice in Las Vegas. Those familiar with the federal legal system in Nevada said they expect a smooth transition with no big surprises.

"I think that Greg Brower did a fine job as Dan's successor, and I think that Dan will run that ship the same as he did in the past," said Dominic Gentile, a longtime defense attorney in Las Vegas.

Gentile said he noticed no major differences in the U.S. attorney's office when Brower took over, and he expects no significant changes now that Bogden has returned to the helm.

"I think it's great," Gentile said. "I think you've got a group of serious-minded professionals in the U.S. attorney's office, and while we don't always agree, I would have to say that their behavior is pretty consistent from case to case and from lawyer to lawyer."

Gentile represented Lance Malone, one of four former Clark County commissioners convicted in a public corruption case that was prosecuted under Bogden's leadership.

Bogden considers the case, which also led to the conviction of a strip club owner, his biggest success as U.S. attorney.

A registered nonpartisan, Bogden was one of nine U.S. attorneys who were fired in 2006. He had served in the position since 2001. His employment with the Justice Department, which began in November 1990, officially ended in February 2007.

The unusual mass firings provoked a storm of reaction on Capitol Hill. House and Senate judiciary committees convened investigations that revealed Bush officials had politicized hirings and firings within the department.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and eight senior officials resigned from the Justice Department in the wake of the congressional investigations.

Earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recommended returning Bogden to his old job, and a nomination from President Barack Obama followed. According to a statement issued by Reid, Bogden had "served Nevada well before being wrongly removed from office."

The U.S. Senate confirmed Bogden on Sept. 15. He is the only one from the group of fired U.S. attorneys who has returned to his old post. His annual salary will be $153,200.

"He seems to be an apolitical person, and I think that that's good," Gentile said.

While a return to his old job may benefit Bogden, Gentile said, "I don't think it's going to make any difference whatsoever to the district of Nevada."

Carl Tobias, a former law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Bogden may set different priorities from Brower, but "I don't think there'll be a big difference in the way the office is run, day to day."

Tobias, who now teaches law at the University of Richmond in Virginia, agrees with those who think Bogden received unfair treatment from the Bush administration.

"There was really never any good explanation for why he was fired," the professor said.

Tobias said Bogden "generally had a good record" and brings a wealth of experience to the position.

"I think on balance, you know, it's probably a good thing that he's doing it again," Tobias said.

Former U.S. Attorney Kathryn Landreth, now employed in Reno as state director of The Nature Conservancy, worked with Bogden for more than seven years. She promoted him to chief of the Reno office, the position he held before replacing her.

"He's a very fine prosecutor, and I think his treatment at the hands of some people in the Justice Department during the Bush administration was very unfair," Landreth said.

Bogden said he has been moving at a whirlwind pace since the Senate confirmed his nomination. He had to close out the cases he was handling at the Reno law firm where he worked, then begin making preparations to take over leadership of the U.S. attorney's office, which has a staff of 95.

Since being sworn in, Bogden has made two trips to Washington, including the trip for last week's orientation. He also drove from Reno to Las Vegas with a carload of boxes.

Bogden has maintained residences in both Las Vegas and Reno since 2001. He has been married since 2008, and his wife works in Reno.

Next week, he will travel to Minneapolis for the Justice Department's Tribal Nations Listening Session led by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Bogden is one of a select group of U.S. attorneys invited to attend the conference with many of the nation's tribal leaders, including several from Nevada.

Bogden said he hardly has had time to unpack his boxes, let alone set his priorities for the Nevada office.

"Priorities are always very difficult," Bogden said.

In June, Holder described protecting America against acts of terrorism as the Justice Department's highest priority.

Brower had established four additional priorities for the Nevada office: mortgage fraud, public corruption, violent crime and child exploitation.

Bogden said he expects all those issues to remain in the mix when he sets his priorities. He said he remains in the "looking-over-the-office-and-getting-my-feet-back-on-the-ground stage."

He plans to meet with judges and law enforcement chiefs to help him determine the best use of his office's resources, but he offered his assurances that federal prosecutors in Nevada will continue emphasizing mortgage fraud.

"This is a big thing now, and I'm sure it's going to be near the top of our priorities," Bogden said.

He said Brower made a request, which is pending, for four more prosecutors and two paralegals to handle mortgage fraud cases. When Bogden left the U.S. attorney's office, he had 38 assistant U.S. attorneys; he now has 52.

Bogden returns to the office after six prosecutors who had worked for him, and another who did not, publicly but anonymously opposed his rehiring.

In interviews earlier this year with a Review-Journal columnist, the current and former prosecutors criticized Bogden for his indecision, for his poor management, for allowing personnel problems to fester, and for his failure to get involved with community outreach.

"I guess I was just somewhat surprised, somewhat disappointed," Bogden said of the criticism.

He is puzzled by the notion that he kept a low profile as U.S. attorney before his firing made national headlines.

In 2001, Bogden hired the office's first media relations specialist, Natalie Collins.

"I realized there's a need to address the media, and there's a need for the office to speak with a uniform voice," Bogden said.

During Bogden's tenure, the office issued 405 news releases, and Bogden held 16 news conferences.

"We did a substantial amount of getting out to the public and getting out to the media," Bogden said.

He acknowledged that his office took some hits from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But he said he was unfairly chastised in the Review-Journal column for failing to meet with prosecutors to discuss one particularly brutal decision issued in a securities fraud case.

Bogden said he was attending a mandatory U.S. attorneys conference in Florida when the decision was issued and decided to have his top supervisor conduct the meeting before the news media began publicizing the opinion.

"It was a good thing we addressed the office as soon as possible," Bogden said.

He responded to another unfavorable decision by creating an appellate division.

Brower, a Republican, took over the U.S. attorney's office in December 2007. He said he expected his tenure to end shortly after a Democrat moved into the White House.

"I think most U.S. attorneys would agree it's important for the president to have his own people in place," Brower said last week.

He said he left the office with no bitterness.

"It's a great job," he said. "Nobody gets to do it forever. I enjoyed every minute of it."

Brower said he felt comfortable handing over the reigns to Bogden, because of Bogden's prior experience in the Justice Department.

"Dan's a good lawyer," Brower said. "He's certainly someone who knows the business and who'll do a fine job. He's committed to being a successful U.S. attorney and doing what's right in this district."

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.