On Rod Rosenstein (2/3/17)

Jessica Karmasek, Attorneys: ‘By-the-book,’ ‘apolitical’ Rosenstein is ‘beyond qualified’ for deputy AG role (Legal NewsLine 2/2/17), here.

If you ask those who have worked with Rod Rosenstein whether he would be a good fit for the No. 2 spot at the U.S. Department of Justice, you’ll get a resounding “yes.”

I could excerpt more, but just read the article linked.

DOJ Tax Alum Writes on DOJ Tax Alums as Constraining Forces at DOJ in Trump Administration (2/3/17)

Stuart Gibson, Tax Division Alum, has written this piece, Tax Division To The Rescue -- If Trump Wants To Be Rescued (Tax Analysts / Forbes 2/1/17), here, noting the roles of two DOJ Tax Alums with DOJ in the Trump Administration that may act as constraining influences on his exuberances.  

Gibson sets up the bottom-line as follows:

That incident [firing of Acting AG Yates], and the appointment of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R.-Ala., as attorney general, have elevated two relatively unknown United States attorneys to prominence in the nascent Trump administration. After Trump fired Yates, he replaced her with Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Independently, he has nominated Rod Rosenstein, U.S. attorney for Maryland, to be the next deputy attorney general under Sessions. 

Both Boente and Rosenstein served as deputy assistant attorneys general in the Tax Division, and both have served under Presidents Bush and Obama. They understand the Tax Division’s culture of enforcing the laws fully and fairly, independent of politics. If they succeed in bringing that approach to the entire department, they just may save Trump and the country from his more destructive instincts. But only if Trump really wants it.

Hubbert Named Acting Assistant Attorney General Tax (1/31/17)

David Hubbert, a career DOJ Tax lawyer, has been named Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, according to the DOJ web site here.

Boente Named Acting Attorney General (1/31/17)

Dana Boente, a DOJ Tax Alum and most recently U.S. Attorney for ED VA, has been named the Acting Attorney General after President Trump fired AAG Sally Q. Yates.  He will be Acting until a new Attorney General is approved by the Senate which might happen as early as this week. Whatever the commotion that led to this action, it does recognize an outstanding career of service to our country.  Thank you, AAG Boente!

A WAPO article on Boente is here.

Rosenstein Nominated for Deputy Attorney General (DOJ #2) (1/13/17)

The President-Elect has nominated Rod Rosenstein, who formerly served as principal deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division to serve in the Trump Administration as Deputy Attorney General.  See Jonathan H. Adler, A reassuring choice for deputy attorney general (The Volokh Conspiracy (1/13/17),  here.  Congratulations!

Rosenstein's Wikipedia page is here.

Orrin Hatch Tribute to Jim Lyon (12/6/16)

On December 5, 2016, from the Senate floor, Senator Orrin Hatch gave a tribute to Jim Lyons for his service to the Senate Finance Committee. The  CSPAN video of the tribute to Jim Lyons is here with the tribute starting around 23:45.  The following was a release with the prepared remaks:

Hatch Tribute to Jim Lyons:
'A Fixture in the Tax Policy World'

Utah Senator Says Lyons was "an essential and indispensable part of our efforts on the Senate Finance Committee for close to a decade."

WASHINGTON - In a speech today on the Senate floor, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) paid tribute to former Finance Committee staffer Jim Lyons, who passed away on September 29th of this year.

"Jim Lyons led a life that touched many others for the better," Hatch said. "His positive influence has been felt by countless people. While tears have been shed and great sadness has been felt, the remembrances we've had of Jim's life and our interactions with him have given all us reason to smile and even laugh."

Hatch went on to note Lyon's invaluable contribution to the Finance Committee.

"Jim was smart as a whip.  He had both a remarkable understanding of tax policy and an uncanny ability to see all the traps and pitfalls that stood ahead for any particular proposal or piece of legislation," Hatch said. "In his eight years on the Finance Committee, he made a mark on every major tax bill that went through the Senate, including many tax extenders bills, some of which he seemed to be able to cobble together singlehandedly."

The complete speech as prepared for delivery is below:
 
Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Jim Lyons, a longtime staffer on Capitol Hill and a fixture in the tax policy world here in DC, who passed away on September 29th of this year.

James Tancill Lyons was born on March 7, 1973 to Stephen and Ann Lyons, both natives of the DC-Virginia area with long-standing ties to the local community.

Growing up in Springfield, Virginia, Jim was an accomplished athlete, excelling in both baseball and basketball.  Oddly for a sports fan in the DC area, his favorite football team was the Dallas Cowboys, a decision he made consciously because his older brother, Stephen, was a big Redskins fan.

Jim was also a great student, eventually graduating summa cum laude from James Madison University.  He went to law school at the University of Texas, where he made the Editing Committee of the Texas Journal of Business Law and won a scholarship for being the best tax law student in his class after pulling the top grade in his Business Associations, Income Tax, International Tax, Corporate Tax, and Estate and Gift Tax classes.

After law school, he earned a clerkship at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and then got a job working for Cleary, Gottlieb, one of the finest law firms in the country.

Of course, you'd never guess any of this if you knew Jim.

While he was always an incredibly valuable - and often brilliant - attorney and congressional staffer, he talked about his college and law school days as though he spent most of his time having fun and just barely skating by.

That, of course, was vintage Jim Lyons - incredibly outgoing, but unbelievably humble.  Jim could have a long conversation with anyone about pretty much anything, but he was never one to spend all that much time touting his own accomplishments.

And, make no mistake, Jim Lyons was very accomplished.

Murray Horwitz Death (12/5/16)

Murray Horwitz died on December 3, 2016.  The obituary is here.  The obituary is short, so I just cut and paste it:

Murray Stephen Horwitz (Age 73)   

Of Fairfax, VA, passed unexpectedly on Saturday, December 3, 2016. Beloved husband of 50 years to Janet Sandberg Horwitz; loving father of Andrew H. Horwitz (Christy) and William A. Horwitz (Chrissy); adoring grandfather of Eddie, Sintra, Leah, Ashley, and Julia; Cherished uncle of Rona Karacaova (Andrew) and their children, Leyla and Aydin. Murray was an amazingly considerate and generous man, a true mensch, who will live on forever in our hearts. A funeral will be held at Beth El Hebrew Congregation, 3830 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, VA 22304 on Monday, December 5, 2016 at 1PM. Interment King David Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, Janet and Murray Horwitz Fund, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031.

Murray was a long-time attorney in the Appellate Section of the Tax Division.

Note that his funeral is at 1 pm today.

If I receive more information, I will post it, but readers are encouraged to post appropriate comments.

Jim Lyon's Death on 9/29/16 (posted on 11/8/16)

I have just learned of the death of Jim Lyons, himself a DOJ Tax alumnus and son of Steve Lyons, a DOJ Tax veteran.  The death was on September 29, 2016.  The following is a brief write-up from  Steve.

Jim was 43 when he died on September 29, 2016. He was survived by his parents, Ann and Steve Lyons, and his brother Stephen. He had worked as a tax Staffer on the Senate Finance Committee for the last 8 years.  He was a graduate of the University of Texas Law School and clerked on the 5th Circuit for Judge Eugene Davis. He then spent three years at the New York City law offices of Cleary, Gotlieb, Steen and Hamilton and then spent one year as a tax staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee before spending  3 years at DOJ as a trial attorney in the Civil Trial Section, Southern Region. 

A link to his obituary can be found at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=JIM-LYONS&pid=181814077.

Belated condolences to Steve and Ann and the rest of the family.

Anyone desiring Steve's contact can contact me at jack@tjtaxlaw.com.

Jim Lyons' Death 9/29/16 (10/1/16)

Tax Prof Blog reports here this morning that former DOJ Tax Civil Trial Attorney, Jim Lyons, died.  I will update this post when I have more information.  In the meantime, the Tax Prof Blog links to this article in Roll Call: Senate Staffer Suffers Cardiac Arrest at Charity Basketball Game, here.  I will post more when I have it.

George Kelley's Death 9/23/16 (10/1/16)

George Kelley, career lawyer with DOJ Tax CES, died on September 23, 2016.  The Washington Post obituary is here.

The obituary discusses briefly his service with the Tax Division, his family and the mass and visitation.

Most of the readers who knew George will know his DOJ Tax career trajectory, but perhaps new information is his service as a "special agent for the Department of Treasury" and his service with the National Guard rising to "Battalion Commander of the 105 mm Field Artillery."