03132017 - News Article - Acting U.S. Attorney Johnson takes over

Acting U.S. Attorney Johnson takes over
NWI Times
Mar 13, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/acting-u-s-attorney-johnson-takes-over/article_9c29c71b-160f-5853-a1bc-9f31f11954a1.html
HAMMOND — A Gary native and a veteran federal prosecutor took over the U.S. attorney's office here Monday in the wake of the former U.S. Attorney David Capp's dramatic departure last weekend.

Clifford Johnson, who served as Capp's second-in-command for nearly a decade, has become the acting U.S. attorney for the U.S. District of Northern Indiana, which comprises 32 counties, Ryan Holmes, a spokesman for the office said Monday.

Johnson will direct the office's prosecution of crime and cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, and "promote public safety throughout the Northern District of Indiana" until a new U.S. attorney is sworn into office, Holmes said.

Both Capp's and Johnson's names appeared on documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court as a sign of the abrupt transition.

Capp resigned at the request of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions who called Friday for the departure of 45 federal prosecutors across the country who were holdover appointees from former President Barack Obama’s time in office.

Holmes said federal law requires the first assistant become acting U.S. Attorney when the office becomes vacant. Johnson had served as the first assistant since August 2007.

Johnson graduated from Gary's Emerson High School, received a bachelor's degree in 1976 and a law degree in 1980 from Valparaiso University.

He was a trial attorney for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from August 1980 until December 1985, joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in Hammond in January 1986 as a civil assistant U.S. Attorney, and served as chief of the local civil division before becoming the first assistant.

Capp, who joined the office in 1985 and was appointed to head the Northwest District office in 2010 by then-President Obama, has a long history of cracking down on violent criminals and rooting out crooked politicians ensnared in public corruption in Northwest Indiana.

Of late, Capp’s office had been overseeing the public corruption cases against Lake County Sheriff John Bunich and Tim Downs, the sheriff's second-in-command, and a Lake Station towing firm owner regarding allegations Buncich solicited bribes and campaign contributions.

The U.S. attorney also charged Portage Mayor James E. Snyder last year with soliciting and receiving $12,000 in bribes in exchange for a towing contract with the city of Portage.

Asked what will become of those investigations with Capp’s resignation, Ryan Holmes, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said Saturday will be things will be “business as usual.”