Russoniello confirmed as U.S. Attorney

Former U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate
as the new U.S. attorney for Northern California.
Photo by Luke Thomas

By Julia Cheever

December 19, 2007

Veteran San Francisco lawyer Joseph Russoniello has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new U.S. attorney for Northern California and will take office in early January.

Russoniello said today he plans to be sworn in on Jan. 4 and start work on Jan. 7.

Russoniello, 66, now a lawyer in private practice, previously served eight years as U.S. attorney from 1982 to 1990 and was appointed then by President Ronald Reagan.

President Bush nominated him in November for a new stint in the job. The Senate confirmed the appointment in a voice vote late Wednesday.

The U.S. attorney's office for Northern California handles federal criminal cases as well as civil cases involving the U.S. government in coastal California from Monterey to the Oregon border.

The office has its headquarters in San Francisco and has branches in Oakland and San Jose.

Pending prosecutions that Russoniello will inherit include perjury charges against baseball star Barry Bonds; extortion and bribery charges against suspended San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew; and the upcoming trial of former McAfee Inc. general counsel Kent Roberts on fraud charges related to stock options backdating.

Russoniello has recently worked with the San Francisco law firm of Cooley Godward Kronish LLP and was dean of San Francisco Law School until July.

He said today, "There are a number of things I need to do simultaneously. I need to introduce myself to the staff of the office and assure them I will be doing my best to see that the office will be the best it can be."

Russoniello said he also wants to reinvigorate the U.S. attorney's office's relationship with local and state law enforcement officials.

Another task, he said, will be to establish a working relationship with the federal investigative agencies that refer criminal cases to U.S. prosecutors, such as the FBI, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

"It's a whole new generation," Russoniello said.

Russoniello replaces interim U.S. Attorney Scott Schools, a career Justice Department attorney who took the place of Kevin Ryan in February.

Ryan, appointed by Bush in 2002, was one of nine U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department in 2006 and early 2007.

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