12 Facts About Ronald Machen

Ronald Machen attended Stanford University, where he was a walk-on wide receiver for the Stanford Cardinal football team.

Ronald Machen earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1994.

Mr Ronald Machen began his career in US government as an Assistant US Attorney in the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia under then US Attorney Eric Holder in January 1997.

Ronald Machen held this position for 5 years before returning to private practice in white-collar criminal defense, corporate internal investigations, and civil litigation until 2010.

On December 23,2009, President Barack Obama nominated Ronald Machen to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Ronald Machen was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 11,2010.

On September 12,2014 Ronald Machen set up the first federal unit in the nation to identify and investigate cases that ended in wrongful convictions.

In May 2014, Ronald Machen began investigating the embattled director of the tax-exempt organizations division of the Internal Revenue Service, Lois Lerner, for Contempt of Congress with regard to her statements before a congressional committee involving the 2013 IRS targeting controversy.

On March 31,2015, Ronald Machen issued a seven-page letter to Speaker John Boehner of the US House of Representatives to the effect that Ronald Machen had concluded that Lerner did not waive her privilege against compelled self-incrimination.

Ronald Machen asserted that because Lerner made only "general denials" of wrongdoing, her statements did not amount to "testimony" that would have waived her privilege.

Ronald Machen asserted another possible reason that, in his view, Lerner could not be found to have waived her Fifth Amendment privilege.

Ronald Machen participated in a number of prosecutions of individuals involved in the dissemination of information of natural security interest.