Glenn Fine

Glenn Alan Fine (born March 22, 1956)[1] is the former principal deputy Inspector General of the Department of Defense and former Acting IG of the Department of Defense. He joined the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General in June 2015.

Glenn Fine
Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
In office
March 30, 2020 – April 6, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMichael E. Horowitz (Acting)
Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense
In office
January 14, 2016 – April 6, 2020
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byJon Rymer
Succeeded bySean O'Donnell (Acting)
Inspector General of the Department of Justice
In office
August 10, 2000 – January 28, 2011
Acting: August 10, 2000 – December 15, 2000
PresidentBill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byRobert Ashbaugh (Acting)
Succeeded byCynthia Schnedar (Acting)
Personal details
Born
Glenn Alan Fine

(1956-03-22) March 22, 1956
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouse(s)Beth Heifetz
EducationHarvard University (BA, JD)
Pembroke College, Oxford (BA)

Fine previously served as the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) from 2000 until January 2011. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2000. Prior to his appointment as the DOJ Inspector General, Fine served as Special Counsel to the DOJ Inspector General from January 1995 until 1996, when he was made Director of the OIG's Special Investigations and Review Unit.[2]

Immediately prior to joining the OIG office at the Department of Justice, Fine had been in a private law practice in Washington, D.C. Before entering private practice, Fine served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Washington, D.C. United States Attorney's Office from 1986 to 1989. In those three years, he prosecuted more than 35 criminal jury trials and handled numerous grand jury investigations.[2]

On March 30, 2020, Fine was named chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, to oversee the $2 trillion stimulus funds signed into law by President Donald Trump in response to the coronavirus outbreak.[3] On April 7, 2020, Fine was removed from his position as acting inspector general by President Trump, which made him ineligible to serve on the pandemic oversight committee.[4][5]

On May 26, 2020, Fine submitted his resignation as principal deputy inspector general effective June 1, 2020.[6]

Personal life

Fine's father was an antitrust lawyer at the Justice Department for 28 years.[7]

In September 1993, Fine married Beth Heifetz, a former law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. The wedding was jointly officiated at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC by Justice Blackmun and Rabbi Howard Gorin.[8] Fine and Heifetz have two children.

Education

Fine attended Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. In 1979, he graduated with an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard College, magna cum laude. He was co-captain of the Harvard varsity basketball team.

Though only 5'9", he was a 10th-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs, an NBA basketball team, in 1979. Instead, he accepted a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.[2][7] He continued his basketball playing career as a member of the Oxford University men's basketball team. Fine earned another BA (promoted to an MA, per Oxford tradition) degree at Pembroke College, Oxford. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1985.[2]

Inspector General

Inspector General of the Department of Justice

Fine was appointed Inspector General of the Department of Justice by President Bill Clinton in 2000. The office is expected to be non-partisan.[7] He served through the George W. Bush administration and part of the Barack Obama administration. Fine has a reputation as an aggressive, independent investigator.[5] Fine served as a member of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. He resigned as the DOJ Inspector General in February 2011. He joined Dechert as a partner in the White Collar & Securities Litigation Practice on September 6, 2011.[9] Shortly after he announced his retirement, the New York Times praised Fine's tenure as the DOJ Inspector General:

The Department of Justice's inspector general, Glenn Fine, stepped down on Friday after a decade of pushing to clean up and depoliticize a hyperpoliticized department. He will be missed. Mr. Fine's best-known efforts came in 2008 when he documented the George W. Bush administration's politically driven firings of four United States attorneys and its politically driven hirings (breaking the civil service law) of scores of civil servants at the Civil Rights Division. Last year, he continued to detail the F.B.I.'s widespread misuse since 2001 of 'exigent letters'... President Obama should appoint a vigilant successor to Mr. Fine, one who will continue to expose the department's shortcomings and their costs.[9]

Other newspapers also praised his tenure as the DOJ IG. The Washington Post wrote, "The job of Inspector General is often thankless one, requiring the ability to make unflinching and crucial assessments that are not always well received by colleagues. The Justice Department employed one of the best during the past decade in the person of Glenn A. Fine, who recently stepped down. Mr. Fine was instrumental in unearthing problems and identifying solutions in the mammoth agency since joining the IG's office in the mid-1990s. He took over the reins in 2000 and led investigations into all facets of the department's operations".[10] A segment on NPR praised Fine as "a model IG."[11]

Defense Department IG and Pandemic Response Accountability Committee

In June 2015, Fine returned to public service and accepted a position as the principal deputy inspector general of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DOD OIG). On January 10, 2016, Fine became the acting inspector general for the DOD.[12]

On March 30, 2020, Fine was named chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, to oversee the $2 trillion stimulus funds signed into law by President Donald Trump in response to the coronavirus outbreak.[3] On April 7, 2020, Fine was removed from the position of acting DOD IG by Trump, who claimed without evidence that he was "partisan". That had the effect of also removing him from the accountability committee, since only serving IGs can be members.[4] Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis released a rare public criticism of the firing, calling Fine "a public servant in the finest tradition of honest, competent governance."[13] On April 8, legislation was introduced in the House to allow Fine to continue as chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.[5]

On May 26, seven weeks after his dismissal from the acting inspector general position, Fine submitted his resignation as principal deputy inspector general, effective June 1. A Pentagon official said Fine resigned voluntarily and was not pushed out.[14] In a statement Fine gave no reason for resigning but said inspectors general "are a vital component of our system of checks and balances, and I am grateful to have been part of that system. After many years in the DoJ and DoD OIGs, I believe the time has come for me to step down and allow others to perform this vital role."[14]

References
  1. Hubbell, Martindale (April 1995). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia (Volume 4 - 1995). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561601127.
  2. "Glenn Fine (United States Department of Justice)".
  3. Hirsch, Lauren (March 30, 2020). "Department of Defense watchdog will lead Inspector General committee for $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package". CNBC. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  4. "Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel". Politico. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  5. Rem Rieder; Eugene Kiely (April 8, 2020). "Trump's Claims on IG, Wisconsin Election". FactCheck.org. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  6. Zachary Cohen; Barbara Starr. "Pentagon deputy inspector general resigns, becomes latest watchdog to exit administration". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  7. Glare of Publicity Finds an Inspector General, March 26, 2007, New York Times. Accessed September 7, 2007.
  8. "WEDDINGS; Beth Heifetz and Glenn A. Fine". New York Times. September 6, 2003.
  9. "Justice and the I.G." The New York Times. February 1, 2011.
  10. "A Fine job". The Washington Post. February 12, 2011. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  11. "Glenn Fine Praised As Model Inspector General". NPR.org. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  12. "Glenn A. Fine - Biography". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  13. McLaughlin, Jenna; Knowles, David; Isikoff, Michael (April 7, 2020). "Mattis rebukes Trump over removal of Pentagon inspector general". Yahoo News. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  14. Cohen, Zachary; Starr, Barbara (May 26, 2020). "Pentagon deputy inspector general resigns, becomes latest watchdog to exit administration". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
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