Ensign must pick two federal judges, U.S. attorney

Benjamin Grove and Jace Radke

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

Sen. John Ensign is working "as quickly as possible" to recommend two federal judges for the U.S. District Court in Nevada and a U.S. attorney for the state.

Ensign, R-Nev., could recommend candidates to President Bush in four to six weeks, he said today.

"I don't know if we can get it done that quickly, but I'd sure like to," Ensign said.

On Tuesday Ensign sent a letter to the White House recommending Howard Zlotnick, 47, to temporarily replace Kathryn Landreth, who had just joined the growing number of U.S. attorneys who have turned in their resignations at Bush's request.

Zlotnick, a Republican, was Landreth's first assistant, the No. 2 attorney in her office. He has worked in the office since 1986.

About one third of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys have submitted resignations, with Landreth's becoming effective on April 20.

"I'm very grateful to Sen. Ensign," Zlotnick said today. "I love working with federal and state law enforcement officials and the fine men and women of this office."

As the senator of the president's party, Ensign has the privilege of recommending candidates for federal positions in the state. Ultimately, the president and Senate must approve the candidates.

Ensign today declined to say if Zlotnick is the leading candidate for the job. Ensign has formed an advisory committee to help him sift through the list of people angling for the federal jobs. He would not say who is on the committee or who the job candidates are.

Zlotnick said he is a former Navy attorney and long-time prosecutor who once was attacked -- but unharmed -- in court by a defendant he had just prosecuted in a racketeering case.

He graduated from the University of Dayton law school in 1978.

Ensign said he is looking for a U.S. attorney who is "qualified, has integrity and is aggressive in going after criminals."

"What we are trying to do with this whole process is come up with the most qualified candidates," Ensign said. "If we play this out in the press, every time one of you guys writes a story, I hear from someone. It gets too much in the political realm."

Landreth was nominated to her post by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, and appointed by President Bill Clinton more than seven years ago.

"The credit for what has been accomplished goes entirely to the dedicated hard working men and women of the United States attorney's office and to the outstanding law enforcement professionals, federal, state and local, who daily commit their lives to the safety of our communities," Landreth said in a prepared statement.

"Having the good fortune to work with them has been my greatest reward."

During Landreth's tenure her office developed expertise in prosecuting emerging organized crime groups from Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly those that masterminded schemes to cheat casino games.