John Horn On His Tenure As Atlanta U.S. Attorney
John Horn spoke with Denis O’Hayer about his tenure at the Atlanta U.S. Attorney’s office.
Al Such / WABE
John Horn recently left his post as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Horn, a longtime federal prosecutor, headed the Atlanta U.S. Attorney’s office for the past two years. He succeeded Sally Yates when then-President Barack Obama appointed her to be Deputy U.S. Attorney General.
BJay Pak was chosen to replace Horn and took office on October 10, after winning bipartisan support in the Senate confirmation vote.
In an extended conversation with Denis O’Hayer on “Morning Edition,” Horn looked back on his tenure, and talked about some of the major issues facing federal law enforcement — including the opioid addiction crisis, human trafficking and independence from political pressure.
On the Atlanta City Hall bribery scandal
I think what we have been seeing is a disturbing number of cases that we’ve been able to make relating to the contracting process in the city. What it reflects is that we have a lot of questions. It identified some pretty substantial questions about the contracting process.
On whether federal prosecutors would be helped by gun control measures like banning bump stocks or closing the gun show loophole
When you have the ability as a criminal to have ready access to guns, it makes you more able to do your criminal work in a violent way. Whether it’s drug trafficking, sex trafficking, a robbery — the more you have access to something that’s going to put someone’s life in danger. That’s something in law enforcement we don’t like.
On whether Sally Yates was right to oppose Trump’s travel ban
Her position was: ‘We were not going to defend that executive order until we have more information about what the [legal] landscape was.’ Given where the courts of appeals ruled, looking specifically at the legal question that she confronted, I think she has been entirely vindicated.
On whether he plans to get into politics
No campaigns. I’m not a political person. I may avail myself of the opportunity to speak a little more about things, but I will leave the political functions to the people who really want to do those kinds of things.
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