Michael R. Bromwich

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy (since June 2010)

(HoustonTX.Gov)

Why He Matters

In the wake of the massive offshore oil spill that devasted the Gulf Coast in 2010, Bromwich was recruited to fix the Interior Department's scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service (MMS) and reform government oversight of the oil industry.

Bromwich's biggest selling point appeared to be his lack of experience and ties to the oil industry, which has badly tarred the scandal-plagued agency in the past.

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The MMS was in charge of both selling leases that allowed oil and gas companies to drill on public land and making sure those companies complied with their regulations. But during the George W. Bush administration, Inspector General Earl E. Devaney unearthed a sex-and-drugs scandal within MMS that showed some employees were receiving gifts, favors, and even illegal drugs, from some oil company executives.

Bromwich's predecessor, Elizabeth Birnbaum, took the helm of the agency at the beginning of the Obama administration, but failed to make a dent in the freewheeling MMS culture. Less than a year into her tenure, the BP spill became the worst in U.S. history.

Amid public outcry, Obama appointed Bromwich, a lawyer known for leading intensive internal investigations, to get the agency on track. He and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar quickly renamed MMS the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE).

On October 1, 2010, Bromwich carved the revenue-collectong office of BOEMRE into a separate office called the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).

A few months later, Bromwich announced that the remaining pieces of BOEMRE would be split into two office, to be called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Bromwich said the new offices, which would replace BOEMRE, would begin functioning on October 1, 2011.

Bromwich, a Harvard-educated lawyer, prosecuted Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal before becoming inspector general at the Justice Department from 1994 to 1999, where he investigated FBI misconduct.

Bromwich went on to run the internal investigations, compliance and monitoring practice at the Washington and New York offices of the law firm Fried Frank. In 2002, he was asked to run a six-year investigation into the conduct of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department. In 2007, the city of Houston asked him to investigate their police crime lab.

More on: Michael R. Bromwich

At a Glance
Path to Power
The Issues
The Network
Campaign Contributions
Additional Resources

Corrections?

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Partner and head of internal investigations, compliance and monitoring practice, Fried, Frank, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (1999 to 2010); Inspector General, Justice Departmen t (1994 to 1999); Associate Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra (1987 to 1989); Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (1983 to 1987)
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Alma Mater: Harvard College, B.A. (1976); Harvard Law School, J.D. (1980); Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, M.P.P. (1980)

DC Office: 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20240Phone: (202) 208-3985
Web site

Path to Power

A native of California, Bromwich came East to hit the Harvard trifecta, earning a bachelor's degree, law degree and master's degree in public policy from the illustrious institution. He finished up in 1980.

After law school, Bromwich became an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Foley & Lardner.

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U.S. Attorney's Office

In 1983, Bromwich took a job as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, which includes New York City. During his four years there, he rose to become chief of the narcotics unit, and argued before the Second Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

Iran-Contra

In 1987, Bromwich won a high-profile job at the Office of Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra.

The independent office was created in the wake of a major scandal that implicated the highest levels of government-even President Ronald Reagan- in illegally selling weapons to Iran to encourage the release of American hostages there, and funelling some of the proceeds of the sale to the Contra rebel groups in Nicaragua.

Bromwich supervised the Contra side of the investigation. During a highly-publicized trial, Bromwich was one of only three courtroom lawyers who prosecuted Lt. Oliver North, the government official accused of orchestrating the transfer of money to the Contras.

Bromwich's team won three convictions against North, but they were later overturned based on immunity he had been granted before the trial.

Private Practice

Once the North trial ended in 1989, Bromwich went into private practice as a partner at Mayer, Brown & Platt.

Bromwich moved from prosecuting clients to defending them. His specialty was defending individuals and corporations accused of white-collar crimes, such as export violations.

Justice Department Inspector General

In 1994, Bromwich returned to government service, this time for the fledgling Bill Clinton administration. He was asked to be the inspector general examining any criminal misconduct at the 120,000-employee Justice Department.

Bromwich conducted special investigations into allegations of incompetence and misconduct at the FBI Laboratory, and investigated the FBI's conduct in the Aldrich Ames spy case. He also investigated the FBI and DOJ's role in a campaign finance investigation and a CIA crack-cocaine controversy, among other investigations.

Fried Frank Investigator

In 1999, Bromwich left the DOJ to return to private practice, this time as a litigation partner at the Washington, D.C., and New York offices of the law firm Fried Frank.

Bromwich headed the firm's internal investigations, compliance and monitoring practice. He spent just over a decade at the firm doing internal investigations for companies of all stripes.

He was then hired by the District of Columbia to investigate its police department, especially improper use of force and civil-rights issues, and by the City of Houston to investigate it's police crime lab.

Minerals Management Service

In the wake of the worst environmental disaster in American history, a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama called on Bromwich's famed investigational skills.

Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asked Bromwich to overhaul the beleagured Minerals Management Service, turning it into the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM). The agency had issued the lease for BP to drill the oil well that caused the spill, and critics accused the agency and the president of lax oversight.

The Issues

Famed for his investigative skills, Bromwich was appointed to completely overhaul the scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service (MMS), reforming it into three parts, including a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and an Office of Natural Resource Revenue.

Lack of Oil Industry Experience and Connections

According to the administration, Bromwich's only apparent weaknesses for the job were actually his major strengths: oil industry experience.

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The Network

At the Interior Department, Bromwich reports to Wilma A. Lewis. As the seemingly obscure MMS has catapulted to a well-known federal agency, Bromwich will likely be working closely with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and his deputies, Tom Strickland and David Hayes, to clean it up.

While he was inspector general of the Justice Department, Bromwich recruited a lawyer named Glenn Fine to work there. Fine succeeded Bromwich as Justice's IG in 2000.

Campaign Contributions

Bromwich gave generously to the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, with five donation totaling $4,600 over the course of the long campaign. He also gave to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004.

Additional Resources