Tim Griffin

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American lawyer & politician (born 1968)

title: "Tim Griffin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1968-births", "21st-century-arkansas-politicians", "21st-century-united-states-representatives", "alumni-of-pembroke-college,-oxford", "arkansas-attorneys-general", "arkansas-lawyers", "baptists-from-arkansas", "dismissal-of-u.s.-attorneys-controversy", "george-w.-bush-administration-personnel", "hendrix-college-alumni", "lawyers-from-charlotte,-north-carolina", "lieutenant-governors-of-arkansas", "living-people", "magnolia-high-school-(arkansas)-alumni", "politicians-from-charlotte,-north-carolina", "politicians-from-little-rock,-arkansas", "republican-party-united-states-representatives-from-arkansas", "tulane-university-law-school-alumni", "united-states-army-colonels", "united-states-army-personnel-of-the-iraq-war", "united-states-army-reservists", "united-states-army-war-college-alumni", "united-states-attorneys-for-the-eastern-district-of-arkansas"] description: "American lawyer & politician (born 1968)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Griffin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer & politician (born 1968) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Tim Griffin
image	Rep Tim Griffin Official Photo.jpg
caption	Official portrait, 2011
office	57th Attorney General of Arkansas
governor	Sarah Huckabee Sanders
term_start	January 10, 2023
predecessor	Leslie Rutledge
office1	20th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
governor1	Asa Hutchinson
term_start1	January 13, 2015
term_end1	January 10, 2023
predecessor1	Mark Darr
successor1	Leslie Rutledge
state2	Arkansas
district2
term_start2	January 3, 2011
term_end2	January 3, 2015
predecessor2	Vic Snyder
successor2	French Hill
office3	United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas
president3	George W. Bush
term_start3	December 20, 2006
term_end3	June 1, 2007
predecessor3	Bud Cummins
successor3	Jane Duke
birth_name	John Timothy Griffin
birth_date
birth_place	Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
party	Republican
spouse	Elizabeth Griffin
children	3
education	Hendrix College (BA)
Pembroke College, Oxford
Tulane University (JD)
United States Army War College (MSS)
signature	Tim Griffin Signature.png
allegiance	United States
branch	United States Army
branch_label	Branch
serviceyears	1996–present (reserve)
serviceyears_label	Service years
rank	Colonel
unit	172d Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (May–August 2006)
battles	Iraq War
battles_label	Conflict
mawards	Meritorious Service Medal
Army Commendation Medal (6)
Army Achievement Medal (5)
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
Combat Action Badge
::

Griffin defeated Democrat John Burkhalter for lieutenant governor in 2014 and served under Governor Asa Hutchinson. In summer 2020, Griffin announced his candidacy for the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election but withdrew from the race in February 2021, then launching a successful run for Arkansas Attorney General.

Early life and education

Griffin was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and reared in Magnolia in Columbia County in southern Arkansas. He graduated from Hendrix College, attended Pembroke College, Oxford, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Tulane Law School.

Early political career

Prior to 2004

Griffin worked from September 1995 to January 1997 with Special Prosecutor David Barrett in the investigation of former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros. For two years after that, he was the Senior Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Government Reform.

In September 1999, he became Deputy Research Director for the Republican National Committee (for George W. Bush's election campaign); while in that position, he was a legal advisor for the "Bush-Cheney 2000 Florida Recount Team" (see Bush v. Gore). From March 2001 through June 2002, he was a special assistant to the Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff.

2004 presidential election

From June 2002 to December 2004, Griffin was Research Director and Deputy Communications Director for Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, a high-ranking position within the RNC.

In June 2007, Senators Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Griffin led an RNC effort to suppress the African-American vote in Jacksonville, Florida, through caging during the 2004 election. Griffin called the allegations of voter suppression "absolutely, positively false," and there was no finding of any wrongdoing.

White House (2005–2006)

In April 2005, Griffin began working in the George W. Bush administration as Karl Rove's aide, with the title of Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director in the Office of Political Affairs.

U.S. Attorney (2006–2007)

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Tim_Griffin.JPG" caption="U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin"] ::

In September 2006, after ending a one-year military mobilization assignment, Griffin began working as a special assistant to U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins in the Eastern District of Arkansas.

On December 15, 2006, the Justice Department announced that Griffin would be appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, effective December 20, 2006, the date when the resignation of Cummins took effect.

Before a March 2006 revision to the Patriot Act, interim U.S. Attorneys had a 120-day term limit, pending confirmation by the Senate of a presidential nominee. The Attorney General makes interim appointments; after the revision, the Attorney General's interim appointees had no term limit, effectively bypassing the Senate confirmation process if the President declined to put forward a nomination. Griffin was among the first group of interim attorneys appointed by the Attorney General without a term limit. Gonzales's decision to bypass confirmation for Griffin particularly angered Arkansas's then Democratic senators, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, who both stated that Gonzales promised them Griffin would go before the Senate for confirmation. Gonzales's decision not to do so prompted Lincoln and Pryor to join many of their Democratic colleagues in demanding Gonzales's resignation or firing.

On May 30, 2007, Griffin resigned from his position effective June 1, 2007, with a tearful speech declaring that public service "not worth it. I'm married now and have a kid. I'm sorry I put my wife through this and I'm trying to move on."

Documents released by a subsequent congressional investigation showed that, in the summer of 2006, White House officials wanted a vacant slot in the U.S. Attorney's office in Little Rock so that Griffin could fill it. Before this, he was a top Republican researcher and aide to Rove. On February 16, 2007, ten days after McNulty testified that Cummins was dismissed and resigned under duress to create a vacancy for Griffin's appointment, Griffin announced he would not seek the presidential nomination to be U.S. attorney in Little Rock.

In September 2008, the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Justice issued a report concluding that Cummins had not been removed for any reasons related to his performance, but rather to make a place for Griffin.

On August 11, 2009, The New York Times reported that previously classified White House emails showed that Karl Rove had lobbied for Griffin to be appointed Cummins's successor.

2008 presidential election

On May 31, 2007, The Washington Post reported speculation that Griffin was in discussions with the then-nascent presidential campaign of Fred Thompson for a top-level post. Instead, Griffin set up an office in Little Rock for Mercury Public Affairs, a New York City-based firm, part of the Omnicom Group, at which Griffin had worked as general counsel and managing director. (The Thompson campaign paid Mercury Public Affairs to have Griffin as an advisor.) Then, after a short period with Mercury, he started Griffin Public Affairs and the Griffin Law Firm.

In late May 2008, columnist Robert Novak reported that Griffin had been named as the RNC's director of research for the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain of Arizona. Griffin was assigned to direct opposition research, "although final arrangements have not been pinned down," Novak said. But Griffin said he was not going back to the Republican National Committee (RNC), and that he had not talked to anyone in the GOP's leadership structure or with the McCain campaign about that role.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2010 Main article: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas#District 2

On September 21, 2009, Griffin announced that he was running for Congress, to replace Democrat Vic Snyder who stepped down after fourteen years in Arkansas' 2nd congressional district. He defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Elliott, then the outgoing Majority Leader of the Arkansas Senate. Elliott's campaign highlighted Griffin's past controversies such as the Bush campaign's voter caging efforts and his being named one of the "Crooked Candidates of 2010" by the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Griffin won with 58% of the vote.

;2012 Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas#District 2

Griffin won re-election with 55% of the vote, over former state representative Herb Rule.

Tenure

In 2009, Griffin signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global warming legislation that would raise taxes.

Legislation sponsored

Authority for Mandate Delay Act (H.R. 2667; 113th Congress) () – Rep. Griffin introduced this bill on July 11, 2013 in response to a July 2, 2013 announcement from the Obama Administration that they would be delaying one of the key requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as "Obamacare"). Their decision was that the requirement that all companies which employed more than 50 workers must offer an employee health insurance plan or pay a fine, scheduled to begin January 1, 2014, would now be delayed until 2015. This decision was immediately criticized by Republicans for exceeding executive authority.

In response to the Obama Administration's decision, then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that Congress would need to approve any delay. When he explained why he had introduced the bill, Griffin argued that, although he believed the Obama Administration's unilateral decision to delay the mandate was illegal, he still believed delaying the mandate was a good way to save jobs and protect workers.

Griffin, along with Rep. Ander Crenshaw and Rep. Candice Miller, introduced the Save Our Military Shopping Benefits Act in 2014. The bill would prohibit the military from closing or cutting commissary stores and exchanges on bases in the United States.

Committee assignments

Griffin served on the following committees and subcommittees:

Committee on Ways and Means
- Subcommittee on Human Resources
- Subcommittee on Social Security
Republican Study Committee On January 16, 2014, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing with the head of Social Security and the Social Security inspector general. During the hearing, Griffin challenged statistics presented by Carolyn Colvin, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. In her testimony, Colvin said that 99 percent of Social Security disability payments are correctly made without fraud.

Lieutenant governor

2014 election

Main article: 2014 Arkansas elections#Lieutenant governor

Griffin was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in the 2014 elections. He defeated two Republican challengers in the primary election, both outgoing members of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Andy Mayberry and Debra Hobbs, taking 63 percent of the vote to Mayberry's 21 percent and Hobbs' 16 percent.

In the general election on November 4, 2014, Griffin defeated Democrat John Burkhalter in the lieutenant governor's race.

2018 election

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/4-H_Day_at_the_Capitol_(47074131751).jpg" caption="Griffin speaks at an event in the capitol"] ::

Main article: 2018 Arkansas elections#Lieutenant governor

Griffin won re-election in the 2018 general election.

Personal life

Griffin attended Immanuel Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Little Rock.

Electoral history

::data[format=table]

Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District Republican Primary Election, 2010
Party
Republican
Republican
::

::data[format=table]

Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District Election, 2010
Party
Republican
Democratic
Independent
Green
Write-ins
::

::data[format=table]

Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District Election, 2012
Party
Republican
Democratic
Green
Libertarian
::

::data[format=table]

Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Republican Primary Election, 2014
Party
Republican
Republican
Republican
::

::data[format=table]

Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Election, 2014
Party
Republican
Democratic
Libertarian
::

References

(2021-01-25). "Who is running for governor of Arkansas in 2022? Meet the candidates".
Brantley, Max. (2021-02-08). "Tim Griffin abandons race for governor, to run for attorney general instead".
https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000567
"Griffin returns to Hendrix".
Rushing, J. Taylor. (June 20, 2007). "Senators seek inquiry into GOP's Duval acts". [[The Florida Times-Union]].
Marisa Taylor. (June 18, 2007). "Politics weakens Justice Dept. independence". McClatchy Newspapers.
[http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/DOJDocsPt2-8070319.pdf Griffin's resume, DOJ emails released to the Senate Judiciary Committee] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-03-28 , judiciary.house.gov, p. 15; accessed November 5, 2014.)
Sabin, Warwick. [http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=828918ba-6945-4db7-937c-7aaa4efa6a3a "End around: Senators question U.S. attorney appointment"], ''Arkansas Times,'' December 28, 2007; retrieved July 19, 2007.
(December 15, 2006). "Justice Department Announces Appointment of J. Timothy Griffin as Interim United States Attorney". Department of Justice.
Waas, Murray. (May 10, 2007). "Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove". National Journal Group.
[http://judiciary.house.gov/Media/PDFS/Chair-Cummins070430.pdf Q & A from Committee for Bud Cummins] {{webarchive. link. (2008-06-26 (no date). ''United States House Committee on the Judiciary''; retrieved May 18, 2007 (written responses by Bud Cummins to committee interrogatories, post-hearing).)
(December 20, 2006). "J. Timothy Griffin was sworn in as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas". Department of Justice.
Satter, Linda. (December 16, 2006). "Prosecutor post is filled in recess". [[Arkansas Democrat Gazette]].
[http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=d9cb4ecc-bcf2-4940-9c30-f1847cd09b7e&rss=315 Lincoln, Pryor say Gonzales should be replaced], FOX16.com; accessed November 5, 2014.
Brantley, Max. (May 30, 2007). "It's official". The Arkansas Times.
Jon Gambrell, [[Associated Press]], "Griffin, wiping away tears, says public service is 'not worth it' after flap", June 14, 2007
(March 14, 2007). "E-mails lay out plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys". CNN.
Dan Eggen. (2007-04-17). "Interim Ark. U.S. Attorney Won't Seek Job: Former Rove Aide Says Senate Democrats Would Block Permanent Nomination". The Washington Post.
(September 2008). "An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006". [[United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]].
Roth, Zachary. (October 1, 2008). "Report Shows White House Engineered U.S. Attorney Firings". [[Talking Points Memo]].
Eric Lichtblau, Eric Lipton. (2009-08-11). "E-Mail Reveals Rove's Key Role in '06 Dismissals". New York Times.
Shear, Michael D. and Dan Balz. (May 31, 2007). "Thompson Bid Would Stir Up GOP Race". The Washington Post.
Andrew Zajac, [http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/mccain_aide_doj_scandal_nonsen.html "McCain aide: DOJ scandal 'nonsense'"], ''Chicago Tribune'', July 8, 2008.
David J. Sanders, [http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2008/05/28/DavidJSanders/346355.html "Tim Griffin's proximity attracts lots of attention"] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-06-06 , ''Arkansas News Bureau'', May 28, 2008.)
[[Robert Novak]], [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/mccain_not_disarmed.html "McCain Won't Play by Obama's Rules"], May 22, 2008
"Ark. Business online media newspaper Arkansas News ebusiness research journal". ArkansasBusiness.com.
(November 8, 2010). "Why George W. Bush's record matters less than Democrats would like it to.". Slate Magazine.
"Arkansas Election Results". The New York Times.
[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G12/AR Griffin v Rule], thegreenpapers.com; accessed November 5, 2014.
[http://americansforprosperity.org/noclimatetax//wp-content/uploads/2009/10/griffin.pdf Profile], americansforprosperity.org, October 2009; accessed November 5, 2014.
Kasperowicz, Pete. (July 12, 2013). "House releases texts of health insurance mandate delays". The Hill.
Cannon, Michael F.. "Yes, Delaying Obamacare's Employer Mandate Is Illegal". Cato Institute.
McConnell, Michael W.. (July 8, 2013). "Michael McConnell: Obama Suspends the Law". The Wall Street Journal.
[http://riponadvance.com/news/measure-introduced-prevent-military-commissary-closures/6531 "Measure introduced to prevent military commissary closures"] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-02-11 . ''Ripon Advance''. February 10, 2014. (Retrieved 02-11-2014).)
Martin, Aaron (2014-17-20). "Griffin probes Social Security disability program". ''Ripon Advance''. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
"Arkansas Primary Election Results, May 20, 2014". [[KATV]].
"Election results".
Staff. (5 January 2011). "Ten Southern Baptists sworn in as new reps.". Baptist Press.

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