{{Short description|Korean-American attorney and politician (born 1974)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = BJay Pak |image = BJ Pak official photo.jpg | caption = Official portrait 2017 |office = United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia |president = Donald Trump |term_start = October 10, 2017 |term_end = January 4, 2021 |predecessor = John A. Horn |successor = Bobby Christine (Acting)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-appointed-bobby-christine |title=Trump Admin Bypasses Top Career Prosecutor to Name New Acting US Attorney in Atlanta |first=Tierney |last=Sneed |date=January 5, 2021 |work=Talking Points Memo}}</ref> |office1 = Member of the Georgia House of Representatives |term_start1 = January 10, 2011 |term_end1 = January 9, 2017 |predecessor1 = Clay Cox (102nd)<br>Terry England (108th) |successor1 = Buzz Brockway (102nd)<br>Clay Cox (108th) |constituency1 = 102nd district (2011–2013)<br>108th district (2013–2017) |birth_name = Byung Jin Pak |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974}} |birth_place = Seoul, South Korea |death_date = |death_place = |party = Republican |spouse = Sandra |children = 3 |education = Stetson University (BS)<br>University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (JD) }} '''Byung Jin''' "'''BJay'''" '''Pak'''<ref name="bio">{{cite web|date=April 8, 2015|title=Meet the U.S. Attorney|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/meet-us-attorney|access-date=October 23, 2017|publisher=United States Department of Justice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-fourth-wave-united-states-attorney-candidate-nominations/|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Fourth Wave of United States Attorney Candidate Nominations|date=July 21, 2017|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> (born 1974) is a Korean-American attorney and politician who served as the United States attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 2017 to 2021. Pak previously served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives as a Republican from 2011 to 2017.
==Early life and education== Pak was born in Seoul, South Korea. His family emigrated to United States, residing in Apopka, Florida, when he was 9 years old.<ref name=law>{{cite news|last1=McDonald|first1=R. Robin|title=Pak's Nomination a 'Great Leap' for Georgia's Asian-Americans|url=http://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/almID/1202793893766/|access-date=October 23, 2017|agency=Law.com|publisher=Daily Report|date=July 25, 2017}}</ref> Pak is a graduate of Stetson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He earned his Juris Doctor, ''summa cum laude'' and Order of the Coif, from the University of Illinois College of Law. In law school, Pak was a Harno Scholar, served as the notes editor for the recent decisions section of the ''Illinois Bar Journal'', and was a member of the ''Elder Law Journal''. In 2013, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of Illinois College of Law.<ref name="bio" />
==Career== After graduation, he clerked for Richard Mills of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois.<ref name="bio" />
Pak served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Republican from 2011 to 2017. After representing the 102nd District from 2011 to 2013 and the 108th District from 2013 to 2017, Pak opted not to run for re-election in the November 2016 election.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yeomans|first1=Curt|date=February 20, 2016|title=Pak leaving legislature after current term ends|publisher=Gwinnett Daily Post|url=http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/cities/lilburn/pak-leaving-legislature-after-current-term-ends/article_a9b703a2-4726-5cbf-bcac-84d20930c2f0.html|access-date=October 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=B.J. Pak|url=https://ballotpedia.org/B.J._Pak|access-date=February 24, 2017|publisher=Ballotpedia}}</ref> Pak was previously a federal prosecutor. While serving as an Assistant United States Attorney, he led the prosecution of individuals who tried to steal Coca-Cola's trade secrets in order to sell them to Pepsi.<ref name="nomination" /> Pak is Georgia's first Asian-American U.S. Attorney, and he was the state's first Korean-American legislator.<ref name="law" />
===United States Attorney=== In July 2017, Pak was nominated by President Donald Trump to become United States attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.<ref name=nomination>{{cite news|last1=Hallerman|first1=Tamar|title=Donald Trump taps former Georgia rep., Albany lawyer to be U.S. attorneys|url=http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/07/21/donald-trump-taps-former-georgia-rep-albany-lawyer-to-be-u-s-attorneys/|access-date=October 23, 2017|publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=July 21, 2017|archive-date=September 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907081345/http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/07/21/donald-trump-taps-former-georgia-rep-albany-lawyer-to-be-u-s-attorneys/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was confirmed for the position by the United States Senate on September 28, 2017.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hallerman|first1=Tamar|title=Senate confirms former state rep. to be Atlanta-based U.S. attorney|url=http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/09/28/senate-confirms-former-state-rep-to-be-atlanta-based-u-s-attorney/|access-date=October 23, 2017|publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=September 28, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024043537/http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/09/28/senate-confirms-former-state-rep-to-be-atlanta-based-u-s-attorney/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On January 3, 2021, Trump called top Georgia state election officials, a call which was recorded and later released, and pressured them to help him "find" more votes in order to overturn the election of president-elect Biden. During the call, Trump referenced Atlanta and Fulton counties of Georgia and referred to the "never-Trumper U.S. attorney there." Pak's district included those counties. Pak resigned the next day, citing "unforeseen circumstances."<ref>{{cite news | publisher = ajc.com | date = January 4, 2021 | title = U.S. Attorney for North Georgia abruptly resigns due to 'unforeseen circumstances' | author = Alexis Stevens, J. Scott Trubey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | url = https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-us-attorney-for-north-georgia-resigns-effective-immediately/UDJNKRKKLRFILC4NC5QKWEUKXM/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = ajc.com | date = January 21, 2021 | title = Former U.S. Attorney Pak returns to Atlanta law firm | author = Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | url = https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-former-us-attorney-pak-returns-to-atlanta-law-firm/PT5QPVRTVVAARO6J7AJO4MHHBM/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = fox5atlanta.com | date =January 21, 2021 | title = Report: Justice Department probes abrupt departure of Atlanta U.S. attorney | author = FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team | url = https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/report-justice-department-probes-abrupt-departure-of-atlanta-u-s-attorney }}</ref>
===Resignation=== Pak resigned unexpectedly on January 4, 2021.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=U.S. Attorney Pak submits resignation |date=January 4, 2021 |location=Atlanta, Georgia |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/us-attorney-pak-submits-resignation |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> Justice Department officials have declined to say whether Pak resigned voluntarily or was asked to do so.<ref name=poli /> However, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Pak was forced to resign by senior White House officials in the Trump administration for not investigating false claims of election fraud "enough."<ref>{{cite news |last1=McWhirter |last2=Gurman |last3=Viswanatha |title=White House Forced Georgia U.S. Attorney to Resign |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-forced-georgia-u-s-attorney-to-resign-11610225840?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1 |access-date=January 9, 2021 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |date=January 9, 2021}}</ref> Trump immediately replaced Pak with Bobby Christine,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/meet-us-attorney|title=Meet the U.S. Attorney|date=April 8, 2015|website=www.justice.gov}}</ref> the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney from southern Georgia, bypassing top career prosecutor Kurt Erskine.<ref name=poli>politico.com: [https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/05/trump-replaces-us-attorney-atlanta-455053 ''Trump replaces U.S. attorney in Atlanta'']</ref> Christine also found no evidence of election fraud.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/pak-trump-georgia-election-testimony/index.html|title=Former US attorney tells investigators he quit because he heard Trump was considering firing him|last1=Sneed|first1=Tierney|last2=Raju|first2=Manu|date=August 22, 2021|work=CNN|access-date=August 12, 2021}}</ref> The Justice Department inspector general opened an inquiry into Pak's departure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-atlanta-us-attorney-inspector-general/2021/01/21/2cc24d1e-5c39-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html|title=Justice Dept. watchdog to examine abrupt departure of Atlanta U.S. attorney whom Trump appeared to criticize|first=Matt|last=Zapotosky|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> Pak told the Senate Judiciary Committee in August 2021 that top Justice Department officials had told him on January 3 that he would be fired by Trump if he did not say there had been widespread voter fraud in Georgia; resigning would pre-empt a public dismissal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/us/politics/byung-pak-trump-atlanta-election-fraud.html|title=Former U.S. attorney in Atlanta says Trump wanted to fire him for not backing election fraud claims.|first=Katie|last=Benner|work=The New York Times |date=August 11, 2021|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
Pak has since returned to private practice.<ref>Alston & Bird: [https://www.alston.com/en/professionals/p/pak-byung-bjay www.alston.com]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20210104234045/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/meet-us-attorney Biography at U.S. Attorney's Office] * georgia.gov: [https://gov.georgia.gov/bj-pak CV] * [https://www.alston.com/en/professionals/p/pak-byung-bjay Firm Bio]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ga-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Clay Cox}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the Georgia House of Representatives<br>from the 102nd district|years=2011–2013}} {{s-aft|after=Buzz Brockway}} |- {{s-bef|before=Terry England}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the Georgia House of Representatives<br>from the 108th district|years=2013–2017}} {{s-aft|after=Clay Cox}} |- {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=John A. Horn}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia|years=2017–2021}} {{s-aft|after=Bobby Christine<br>Acting}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, BJay}} Category:1974 births Category:American politicians of Korean descent Category:Assistant United States attorneys Category:Asian-American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Category:Living people Category:Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Category:Stetson University alumni Category:United States attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia Category:University of Illinois College of Law alumni Category:Asian conservatism in the United States Category:Asian-American state legislators in Georgia Category:21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly