Monty Wilkinson (lawyer)

Robert M. "Monty" Wilkinson[1] is an American lawyer who has been serving as acting United States Attorney General since January 20, 2021.[2][3][4][5][1] Wilkinson is presently the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources at the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to assuming this role, he served as Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.[6][7]

Monty Wilkinson
Acting United States Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2021
President	Joe Biden
Deputy	John P. Carlin (acting)
Preceded by	John Demers (acting)
Personal details
Born	Robert M. Wilkinson
Education	Dartmouth College (BA) Georgetown University (JD)

Education

Wilkinson graduated from Dartmouth College in 1983[8] and from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1988.[9]

Career

In 1989, Wilkinson served as a law clerk to Eric Holder, a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney in 1990 and subsequently worked as special counsel and spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, becoming an associate deputy attorney general in 1997. Wilkinson worked for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and the law firm Troutman Sanders, before being appointed deputy chief of staff and counselor to the attorney general in 2009.[9]

In 2011, Wilkinson was appointed principal deputy director and chief of staff of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, and was appointed its director in 2014.[10] In 2017, he was appointed senior counselor in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Administration, and in 2019 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration.[11]

In 2021, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post reported that Wilkinson was expected to be designated acting United States Attorney General upon Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021.[2][4][7] He officially began his tenure as acting United States Attorney General when an executive order was signed appointing him to the role a few hours after President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.[12][1]

References

1. "Meet the Acting Attorney General". www.justice.gov. 2021-01-19. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
2. Benner, Katie (2021-01-19). "Career Official Expected to Temporarily Lead Justice Dept". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
3. "Biden's Choice for Acting AG Ahead of Merrick Garland Hearings Is Praised by DOJ Veterans as 'Wonderful and Honorable' Leader". Law & Crime. 2021-01-19. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
4. Bravin, Sadie Gurman and Jess (2021-01-20). "WSJ News Exclusive | Justice Department Seeks to Limit Scope of Landmark LGBT Rights Decision". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
5. Correspondent, Evan Perez, CNN Justice. "Trump's acting attorney general leaves without creating controversial special counsels". CNN. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
6. "Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources/Chief Human Capital Officer". www.justice.gov. 2018-08-10. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
7. Zapotosky, Matt (2020-01-19). "Biden to tap Wilkinson to lead Justice Department until Garland's confirmation". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
8. "Dartmouth Alumni in President Barack Obama's Administration". Dartmouth News. 2010-09-22. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
9. "Director of the United States Attorneys: Who is Monty Wilkinson?". AllGov. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
10. "Meet the Director | USAO | Department of Justice". web.archive.org. 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
11. "Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources/Chief Human Capital Officer". www.justice.gov. 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
12. "Trump's acting attorney general leaves without creating controversial special counsels". Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-01-20.