November 24, 2021 10:20 a.m.  

On Wednesday, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent to the White House the names of three finalists to be the next U.S. Attorney for Oregon.

A release said the finalists were chosen after review by a selection committee assembled by both Senators. Following interviews with seven applicants for the job and soliciting public input, each committee member ranked the candidates. The three highest-ranked applicants from the cumulative rankings are:

*Craig Gabriel – Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon

*Vivek Kothari – Associate at Markowitz Herbold and former Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia

*Natalie Wright – Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Organized and Violent Crime Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon

Wyden and Merkley said they are gratified that the selection committee has identified three very qualified candidates for the White House’s consideration “…to this important post”. The Senators said, “We’re confident that Oregonians would be well-served by having any one of these three candidates as our state’s U.S. Attorney, and we stand ready to advance President Biden’s ultimate choice through the nomination process”.

The release said in their communication with the White House forwarding the three finalists, Wyden and Merkley noted they are neither endorsing or implying support for any particular nomination.

The previous U.S. Attorney for Oregon was Billy Williams, who announced his departure from the post as the state’s chief federal law enforcement official in February of 2021. Scott Erik Asphaug has been serving as the Acting U.S. Attorney.