Skip to main contentIt looks like Oregon's next U.S. Attorney will be a woman best known for snooping through Monica Lewinsky's underwear drawer.
Karin Immergut, an assistant U.S. Attorney, is the favorite to succeed her boss, Mike Mosman, who's all but assured a federal judicial appointment to fill the vacancy left last year by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones (see "Baum'd Out," WW, Jan. 23, 2003).
Immergut is famous for her four-month stint with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr while he was prosecuting President Bill Clinton. (One of Immergut's most famous questions for Lewinsky: "Was the president wearing pants?")
The nomination will be made by U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith and must be approved by the White House. So far the only other name to surface as a serious contender is that of former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix, a Salem business lawyer who lacks Immergut's experience, particularly with fraud and white-collar crime. She's been a
federal prosecutor for seven years and earned good reviews in the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, where she
previously served.
Multnomah County court administrator Doug Bray, who worked with Immergut on a case involving theft of court records, says she has integrity "in spades" and is "very bright and a real pro."
Mosman, who says he hasn't heard whether he'll be a judge, let alone who might succeed him, describes Immergut as "a very active, talented prosecutor." And, he added, "She's been a leader in our Project Safe Neighborhoods gun-violence reduction effort."
Immergut, who declined to comment on the possible appointment, was once a Democrat. She changed her registration to nonpartisan in July 1997 and then to Republican on Dec. 6, 2001--the same month Mosman hired her away from Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk.
WWeek 2015