By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
D.C. U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips has been named ticklethewire.com’s Fed of the Year for 2016.
Phillips, who began working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. in 1994, was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Attorney post in Washington in October 2015. From 2011 to 2015, he served as counselor to the U.S. Attorney General, and was regarded as a calm, steady voice of reason at Main Justice during some bumpy times, which included the fallout from ATF’s Fast and Furious scandal.
He also served as executive director for the Attorney General’s Diversity Management Advisory Council and was the day-to-day coordinator for diversity-management issues within the Justice Department.
He’s continued to manage with a steady, calm hand at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which under his tenure, has handled everything from public corruption and terrorism related cases to local crimes. The yearly award is given to federal law enforcement officials who exemplify integrity, leadership and concern for their workers. His contributions over the many years makes him worthy of the 2016 award.
As a side note, the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm Phillips. And considering he was appointed by President Obama, he’s not likely to get confirmed after Donald Trump takes office.
Previous recipients of the ticklethewire.com Fed of the Year award include: Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (2008): Warren Bamford, who headed the Boston FBI (2009), Joseph Evans, regional director for the DEA’s North and Central Americas Region in Mexico City (2010); Thomas Brandon, deputy Director of ATF (2011); John G. Perren, who was assistant director of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) Directorate (2012); David Bowdich, special agent in charge of counterterrorism in Los Angeles (2013); Loretta Lynch, who was U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn at the time (2014) and John “Jack” Riley, the DEA’s acting deputy administrator (2015).
