Marisa T. Darden is an American lawyer who was confirmed to serve as

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the

Northern District of Ohio Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

but later withdrew from the position.

Education

Darden earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 2005 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the Duke University School of Law.

Career

In 2010 and 2011, Darden served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge

Morrison C. England Jr. Morrison Cohen England Jr. (born December 17, 1954) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Early life and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri, England received a Bac ...

From 2011 to 2014, she was an assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorney's Office. From 2014 to 2019, she served as assistant United States attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Since 2019, she has worked as a principal at

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Nomination as U.S. attorney

On November 12, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Darden to be the United States attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. On November 15, 2021, her nomination was sent to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. On February 10, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On April 27, 2022, her nomination was confirmed in the Senate by

. On May 17, 2022, despite being confirmed by the Senate, Darden withdrew her name from consideration for position as U.S. attorney, citing her family. She will return to private practice. She would have been the first Black woman U.S. attorney in northern Ohi

Controversies

It is alleged that in September 2017, ex-

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enf ...

agent Jose Irizarry saw Marisa Darden at a gathering where he witnessed two DEA agents taking

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

. Irizarry says he didn't see Darden taking drugs. (At least one DEA agent who attended has been placed on administrative leave.) Darden refused to answer questions from AP but her attorney said in a statement that she "cooperated fully" with the federal investigation into "alleged illegal activity by federal agents", an inquiry separate from the FBI background check she faced in the confirmation process. "There is no evidence that she participated in any illegal activity", Darden's attorney, James Wooley, wrote in an email to AP. A later investigation by AP showed that Darden participated in "outlandish behavior" during a rooftop party in

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

, where disgraced DEA agent Danielle Dreyer fondled Darden's breasts in public and squirted breast mil

References

Living people Assistant United States Attorneys Duke University School of Law alumni Ohio lawyers University of Michigan alumni Year of birth missing (living people) People associated with Squire Patton Boggs {{Ohio-bio-stub