New U.S. attorney for Nevada confirmed

WASHINGTON " The U.S. Senate has confirmed Greg Brower as Nevada's new U.S. attorney, replacing Daniel Bogden who was one of eight prosecutors let go last year in a Justice Department scandal that figured in former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who had been furious over Bogden's dismissal, welcomed Brower's Senate confirmation on Thursday.

"Greg has strong roots in our state and has wide-ranging experience in the military, in elected office and as a prosecutor," Reid said in a statement. "The appointment of Greg Brower is a good first step in restoring the confidence of Nevadans in the Department of Justice."

"Greg has a tremendous track record and is widely respected in the legal community, which is why I recommended him for this position," said Ensign, who had endorsed Brower after consulting with Reid.

Brower has served as general counsel to the Government Printing Office since October 2006. Before that, he served at the Justice Department as legislative counsel in the executive office for U.S. attorneys before he was appointed inspector general of the printing office in 2004, according to his biography on the GPO Web site.

He was twice elected to the Nevada Assembly and served in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer.

Documents released as part of a congressional inquiry into the firings of Bogden and other prosecutors included Bogden's claim that he learned from a senior Justice Department official that the dismissals were designed to make room for others to gain experience to let the Republican Party stack federal judgeships with loyalists.

Other prosecutors who were fired had lost support from home-state lawmakers, or said they were facing political pressures from powerful Republicans to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats. Bogden, a political independent, was not one of those. He had excellent performance reviews and was highly regarded.