ORIG 09/30/21 Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel announces a grand jury indictment for a second-degree murder charge against Ian Cranston in the shooting death of Barry Washington Jr. at a downtown bar in Bend. Hummel made the surprise announcement Thursday night, Sept. 30, 2021.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel was named Tuesday as a finalist for nomination by President Joe Biden as the next U.S. Attorney for Oregon.

Hummel is one of only two nominees without a current or past connection to the U.S. Department of Justice. He is the only nominee from outside the Portland/Willamette Valley area.

The finalists were named Tuesday morning to solicit public comment for the U.S. Department of Justice on their possible nominations.

Hummel was called Thursday by the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to inform him and invite him to be interviewed. Biden will select a nominee that the U.S. Senate will vote to confirm.

Hummel praised the other finalists.

“I know them by reputation, and they all strike me as competent, qualified and ethical people,” Hummel told The Bulletin. “So anyone President Biden nominates, I’ll be supporting.”

Also on the short list released Tuesday morning:

• Craig Gabriel, assistant U.S. attorney, deputy chief of the office’s criminal division and federal prosecutor since 2007.
• Natalie Wight, assistant U.S. attorney. She was an unsuccessful candidate for Multnomah County district attorney this year.

Vivek Kothari, an attorney with Markowitz Herbold law firm in Portland. A former federal prosecutor in Atlanta, Kothari co-founded the Oregon Clemency Project last year.

Rachel Sowray, special assistant U.S. attorney and fraud prosecutor. She is an instructor at the University of Oregon Law School.

Joseph Huynh, assistant U.S. attorney and instructor with University of Oregon Law School.

Vamshi Reddy, general counsel, RISE Partnership, which advises on trusts, including SEIU Local 503 Labor-Management Trust Boards.

Hummel is known as one of the most progressive district attorneys in Oregon. He was critical of a U.S. Border Patrol tactical squad that was sent to forcibly break up an August 2020 demonstration seeking to stop an immigration enforcement action in the city.

“Federal troops stormed the buses in full tactical gear,” he wrote just after the incident. “Unnecessary and outrageous. Never did I think I would see this in my country. I’ve never been so disgusted by my government and so proud of my community.”

Gov. Kate Brown and other top state officials said at the time that the actions of then-U.S. Attorney Billy Williams were a result of the politicization of the U.S. Justice Department under President Donald Trump.

Hummel announced to his staff on Aug. 23 that he would not seek a third term as district attorney, telling them he was interested in the U.S. attorney position.

“I have made the difficult decision not to run for re-election, and I wanted you to hear this from me before I inform the public, Hummel wrote. “Working with all of you for the past seven years has been an honor.”

Hummel has been open about his desire to become to top federal law enforcement official in Oregon.

“I am not sure what comes next for my own career. It’s too soon for me to lock down on 2023 career options,” Hummel said in the staff note. “I remain interested in the U.S. Attorney position, but my decision to forgo re-election has nothing to do with that potential nomination.

In an April guest commentary in the Portland Tribune, Hummel said that the defeat of President Trump was not the end of the struggle for civil rights.

“Despite the results of the recent election, hate and bigotry have not been defeated and, sadly, seem to be growing. It’s up to all of us to lead — local elected officials, community organizers, religious leaders, students, the business community, you and me,” he said.

When Trump was elected, Wyden and fellow U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley lobbied to have Williams nominated for the position. Williams had held the “acting” position since May 2015.

While serving under President Barack Obama, Williams had prosecuted Ammon and Ryan Bundy, along with others who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for 41 days in 2016. The Bundys were acquitted at trial.

The senators said at the time of Trump’s election that they were worried Trump would appoint a more ideological top federal prosecutor in the state than Williams, who they saw as a no-nonsense, by-the-book lawman.

Republican political leaders in Oregon suggested several candidates, including then House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte. McLane did not get the nod, and eventually was appointed by the governor to a circuit court judgeship for Crook and Jefferson counties. He stepped down from the bench earlier this year to return to private law practice in Bend.

Trump eventually nominated Williams in November 2017 to serve a four-year term. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2018.

Relationships between federal, state and local political and law enforcement leaders became strained in 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, a black man, on May 25.

A jury would later convict the officer of murder, and the video of the incident sparked nationwide demonstrations. Portland had some of the most active and confrontational clashes in the weeks after the murder.

Protesters sometimes attacked federal property, prompting Williams to use an assortment of federal agency personnel as tactical squads. In riot gear, but at times with differing agency markings, the units were used to suppress sometimes violent demonstrations targeting the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, and other federal buildings in downtown Portland.

The U.S. attorney serves at the pleasure of the president of the United States. When Biden was sworn into office in January, he soon after asked many U.S. attorneys, including Williams, to submit their resignations — a not unusual event during the change of presidential administrations.

Williams officially stepped down on Feb. 28. Scott Erik Asphaug has been serving as acting U.S. attorney.

Send comments to selectioncommittee_@wyden.senate.gov by Nov. 5. All comments will be shared confidentially with all members of the selection committee.