UPDATE: The INDsider has just been informed that Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley has been confirmed as U.S. attorney by the full Senate.
[UPDATE: The INDsider has just been informed that Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley has been confirmed as U.S. attorney by the full Senate.]
Original story, published May 27: The INDsider has learned that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote Wednesday President Barack Obama's U.S. attorney nominee Stephanie Finley. Finley, who has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana since 1995, was tapped Jan. 20 to replace acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan in the Western District.
Her nomination must now be approved by the full Senate.
Flanagan has been leading the Shreveport based office since Donald Washington stepped down in January. Flanagan's son, Robert, made national headlines in January for tampering with the phones in the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu with three men, including conservative documentary film-maker James O'Keefe. On Wednesday O'Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from his involvement in the break-in. His co-defendants, Stan Dai, Joseph Basel and Flanagan, each got two years of probation, 75 hours of community service and the same fine as O'Keefe.
Prosecutors initially said they caught four individuals in the process of committing a felony, but the charges were later reduced to misdemeanors.