U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref sat down with KREM 2 ahead of her departure.
SPOKANE, Wash. — United States Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref announced on Monday that she will step down from her position as the chief federal law enforcement officer for Eastern Washington later this month.
When she was appointed and sworn into office in October 2021, she made history as the first woman to lead Eastern Washington’s federal prosecuting office.
“Coming into this role you know it’s going to end and it’s sad when it does but I wanted to make sure I made the most of it,” Waldref said in a sit-down interview with KREM 2 Friday.
She says she will leave the office after serving there in some capacity since 2013; she was an assistant U.S. attorney before taking on the head role.
Beyond Eastern Washington, U.S. Attorney Waldref brought her expertise to Washington D.C. and impacted the Department of Justice’s national legal policy in areas such as environmental justice, public safety on Native American reservations, combating fraud and addressing the opioid epidemic.
She says one of her highlight accomplishments was forging relationships with local and tribal governments and helping push forward a state task force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP).
“Through those ongoing meaningful relationships, I think we’ve had very strong responses of gratitude, gratitude we’re present and gratitude we’re bringing cases we previously maybe wouldn’t have had enough evidence to bring,” Waldref said.
She also brought on the region’s first assistant attorney dedicated to those cases, Bree R. Black Horse.
“Having somebody dedicated to really looking at both, how can we do this work better, how can we serve victims better?” Waldref said.
Waldref’s team also focused heavily on the opioid epidemic, environmental justice, and fraud. Her team brought 30 indictments and returned $30 million in fraudulently obtained COVID relief money. She also helped win the region’s largest healthcare fraud settlements.
“We need to know our doctors are treating us with our patient care as the number one priority, not that it’s about money or prescriptions or care that’s going to bring doctors the most money,” she said Friday.
Waldref says she is proud of all the work her team has done and she’s ready to find what’s next in her career.
“I’ve been sprinting about 1,000 miles an hour so I’m going to take a little break, first,” she laughed. “My kids are worried I’ll be too involved now, but I’m staying right here in Spokane. Trying to take lessons from all the things I’ve learned about all the things important to our community and see how I can best serve next.”
Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Barker will become the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington after Waldref’s departure.
“In a little more than three years, Vanessa has done more than some prosecutors achieve in a lifetime,” Barker said. “Her contributions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office will live on for years to come. From the initiatives and programs she established to the incredible attorneys that she hired, U.S. Attorney Waldref has helped make Eastern Washington a safer place to live, work, and raise families. Serving as her First Assistant has been one of the highlights of my career.”
You can watch the full interview on KREM 2+.
