By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Pete Serrano, the newly-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington, has a strong pro-Second Amendment history, and in an interview with TGM, he listed his top priorities as catching and prosecuting criminals.
He said the U.S. Attorney’s office—based in Spokane with offices in Yakima and Richland—has been “doing great work,” which he plans to continue.
Serrano stepped down recently as mayor of Pasco, and his position with a group he helped found, the Silent Majority Foundation, which is presently seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a gun rights case challenging Washington state’s ban on so-called “large capacity magazines.”
Serrano ran unsuccessfully last year for the position of Washington state attorney general. He told TGM that several people had suggested he “toss his name into the hat” to be the next U.S. attorney after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January. While he expressed some interest in the position, “I assumed nothing was going to happen.”
However, early in July, he said he was contacted by the White House, and that led to a conversation with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” he acknowledged.
Focusing on human trafficking, drug and gun violations will continue keeping the Eastern Washington office busy, he indicated.
As confirmed by the Tri-City Herald, Serrano “will supervise the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of federal civil matters in Eastern Washington, leading a team of 79 prosecutors, civil litigators and support staff.”
“I want to stay dialed in on protecting the people of the district and especially kids in the district,” he said. “If you keep committing crimes in Eastern Washington we’re going to concentrate on you.”
While his interim position will continue for several weeks, in order to become the U.S. Attorney, Serrano will face confirmation by the U.S. Senate. KHQ News is reporting that Washington’s Democrat Sen. Patty Murray will not support Serrano’s appointment. Murray, a perennial anti-gunner and part of the Senate Democratic leadership, is a diehard opponent of the Trump administration.
On the job only a short time, he has not had the opportunity to speak directly with Attorney General Pamela Bondi about specific issues in Eastern Washington.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms earlier this year asked Bondi to focus the attention of the Justice Department’s Second Amendment Task Force on the state, which has seen passage of restrictive gun control laws over the past couple of years.
