Thomas Michael DiBiagio is a former

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 ...

in the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. After eight

U.S. 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 ...

s were fired by the Bush administration in 2006 for performance-related issues under a clause of the

PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropr ...

(see

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy On December 7, 2006, the George W. Bush Administration's Department of Justice ordered the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States attorneys. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White ...

), DiBiagio stated in March 2007 that he was ousted because of political pressure over public corruption investigations into the administration of then-Gov.

Robert L. Ehrlich Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of Maryland, 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Ehrlich represe ...

Jr. However, he had also faced criticism in his office's handling of the

John Allen Muhammad John Allen Muhammad (born Williams; December 31, 1960 – November 10, 2009) was an American convicted murderer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He, along with his partner and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo (aged 17), a native of Kingston, Jamaic ...

arrest in the D. C. sniper attacks. He ordered FBI agents to effect a federal arrest to gain jurisdiction over the local police task forces who had been leading the investigation. This arrest permanently stopped the local police task force's interrogation of the defendants. The snipers' motives would never be known.

References

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

, Matthew Dolan, Andrew A. Green and Matthew Hay Brown
Ex-boss disputes DiBiagio's story
March 7, 2007 #

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, Eric Lichtblau
Ex-Prosecutor Says Departure Was Pressured
March 6, 2007 # Baltimore Sun, Matthew Dolan
DiBiagio essay stirs Md. legal community
January 28, 2006 # Baltimore Sun,
Smear tactics keep dreamers out of public service
January 26, 2006 # Baltimore Sun, Matthew Dolan
New U.S. attorney to have first big test
October 25, 2005 # Baltimore Sun, Stephanie Hanes
U.S. Attorney DiBiagio resigns
December 4, 2004 # Baltimore Sun, Scott Calvert
High-profile victories and public stumbles
December 4, 2004 # Baltimore Business Journal, Tina Johnson-Marcel

August 16, 2002 Living people Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy United States Attorneys for the District of Maryland 1960 births {{US-law-bio-stub