Obama Nominates Out Gay Magistrate Backed by GOP Senators for Texas U.S. Attorney Spot
Robert Lee Pitman, an out gay magistrate judge in the Western District of Texas, was nominated today by President Barack Obama to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the district, which includes San Antonio and Austin and also covers the western end of the state.
In a statement announcing the nomination and three others, Obama said, “These nominees have proven to be tenacious and diligent in their pursuit of justice and I am honored to nominate them to serve their fellow Americans as U.S. Attorneys. They will be distinguished public servants.”
Of note, Pitman was one of two recommended for the position in late 2009 by Texas’s two Republican senators — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. The move drew some attention at the time, according to a report at Main Justice from the time.
Read Pitman’s White House biography below the jump.
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Robert Lee Pitman: Nominee for United States Attorney, Western District of Texas
Robert Pitman is a Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a position he has held since 2003. Previously, Judge Pitman served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1990 to 2003, serving as Division Chief from 1997 to 2001, interim U.S. Attorney in 2001, and Deputy U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2003. From 1996 to 1997, Judge Pitman was an Attorney Advisor for the General Counsel’s Office of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Judge Pitman was an Associate at Fulbright and Jaworski, LLP, from 1989 to 1990. Following law school, he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable David O. Belew, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, from 1988 to 1989. Judge Pitman graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1985 and the University of Texas School of Law in 1988.
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