- Ed Stanton III
Confirming reports that had long circulated in the political and legal worlds, Ed Stanton III has been officially designated by President Obama as the next U.S. Attorney for Tennessee’s Western District, replacing Lawrence J. Laurenzi, who had succeeded former U.S. Attorney David Kustoff on an interim basis.
Stanton, a lawyer for FedEx, had also served as an assistant city attorney for Memphis. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in the 9th District in 2006.
Notice of the appointment comes not quite a month after reports in the Flyer and elsewhere that Stanton was the apparent presidential designate. Official confirmation may have been delayed by complications arising from the prolonged investigation, now apparently terminated, of former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton, although other Justice Department appointments in Tennessee had also been withheld.
