Eric Dreiband
Eric Stefan Dreiband (born September 23, 1963) is an American lawyer. While a partner at Jones Day, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The Senate confirmed his appointment on October 11, 2018. He resigned on January 8, 2021, without providing a specific reason for the departure. Early life and education. Dreiband graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in history in 1986. He has a Master of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School, and a Juris Doctor from the Northwestern University Pritzker  School of Law. Career. Upon graduating from law school, Dreiband served as a law clerk to Judge William J. Bauer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Following his clerkship, Dreiband served in the Independent Counsel's office for the Whitewater controversy. After a stint in private practice, Dreiband served in the administration of George W. Bush as deputy administrator of the United States Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) from 2002 to 2003 and as general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 2003 to 2005. He again returned to private  practice in 2005 and joined Jones Day in 2008. Controversies. On June 10, 2020, Dreiband sent a letter to Montgomery County Maryland executives expressing First Amendment concerns regarding county orders. The letter urges County Executive Elrich and the County Council to ensure that the county's executive orders and enforcement of them respect both the right of residents to assemble and practice their faith. But the letter was based on flawed reporting, which the Justice Department has failed to publicly correct. The DOJ was trying to make a point about a Black Lives Matter protest organized by high school students  on the grounds of the Connie Morella Library in Bethesda on June 2. Dreiband's letter informed County officials that if they were going to support “hundreds of people packed into a library” for a protest, they should be equally supportive of people gathering to worship during the pandemic. But the Connie Morella Library is closed. Photos captured by local ABC-affiliate WJLA show that the protest was in the library's parking lot. A makeshift lectern for the rally was set up in front of the library's doors, and hundreds of attendees can be seen in photos seated  on the ground outside the library. Asked about the discrepancy, a Justice Department spokesperson acknowledged to HuffPost that local Fox News affiliate WTTG had gotten the facts wrong in its story about the protest, though the station has since corrected its report. The DOJ's original letter containing the claim that hundreds of people packed into the library could still be found on the department's website.