Iowa ( Europe Brief News) – President Trump recently nominated Leif Olson, a senior deputy in the Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office to be the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Iowa.
Olson has been acting as chief deputy attorney general since August 2023. Prior to his joining Trump’s office, he worked with the Texas attorney general for two years as the head of special litigation. His nomination was made by the White House this Tuesday and has received support from Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Joni Ernst, as reported by the Des Moines Register News.
The U.S. attorney represents the United States in federal criminal cases and civil cases in the Northern District of Iowa, encompassing 53 counties, some of which include Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Sioux City. The Iowa Attorney’s General Office put out a statement where Olson termed the nomination a humbling experience and thanked Grassley and Ernst for supporting him.
“The opportunity to serve Iowa and our nation is a blessing,”
he said.
Bird also expressed support, stating Olson “will work hard as U.S. Attorney to uphold our laws and Constitution as a prosecutor.”
“He supports our law enforcement and will work to keep Iowans safe and protect victims of crime,”
she added.
Olson’s Educational & Work Background
Olson graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2001 and worked for fifteen years in the private practice of law in Texas prior to becoming a public servant.
He began working in the U.S. Department of Labour as a senior adviser in 2019. His time in that position was short-lived; in January 2019, Bloomberg Law published a story about several posts on his Facebook page that it deemed ‘anti-Semitic’. Olson eventually apologised and resigned over the posts, but was brought back after they were found to be satirical of anti-Semitism. Bloomberg retracted its story and apologised.
Before heading back to the private sector, Olson returned to the administration toward the end of Trump’s first term and served as the Texas attorney general, handling major cases,, including cases against the Biden government.
Pending Nominations for Iowa
The nomination comes a few weeks after Trump nominated Davenport attorney David Waterman for the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Iowa that covers Des Moines. Instead, both of Iowa’s districts lack a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney during Trump’s first term.
The president only nominated candidates for these positions when he was already in his term, and the Senate didn’t make any move on them up to the time he left office.
As evidenced by the support of Grassley and Ernst, Olson and Waterman will likely have an easy time going through their confirmation proceedings. It would recommend the approval since Grassley expects to serve as the chairperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
