Two important political appointees were named to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s team at the Department of Justice Monday.
Robert K. Hur was named Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, and James A. Crowell IV will served as Rosenstein’s Chief of Staff.
Rosenstein announced the two men’s appointments in a press release. “Robert Hur and James Crowell have served with distinction in a variety of roles in the Department of Justice,” he said. “Their experience and judgment will advance our efforts to deter crime, promote the rule of law, and ensure equal justice for everyone.”
Hur, a law clerk of the late Supreme Court Cheif Justice William H. Rehnquist, was educated at Harvard and Stanford. After a long career in Government — including at the DOJ, Securities and Exchange Commission, and as a U.S. attorney, he was, until his appointment, a partner at King and Spaulding, the same international law firm from which President Donald Trump selected Christopher Wray to succeed James Comey as director of the FBI.
Crowell — a Boston University Law grad who has also served in the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, and United States Army Reserve — joins Rosenstein directly from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Crowell was the head of the criminal division there, while Rosenstein served as U.S. Attorney under successive Republican and Democratic administrations.
The staffing up process at the Department of Justice has proceeded AT a less-than-blindingly fast rate. These two appointments continue the process of reaching a full complement of attorneys under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.