Matthew G. Whitaker
United States Attorney
On February 3, 2004, Matthew G. Whitaker was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. Matt's nomination was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 3, 2004, and he was sworn into office on June 15, 2004. Prior to his appointment, Whitaker was an attorney at the Finley Alt Smith law firm in Des Moines.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
has offices in Des Moines and the Quad Cities. As United
States Attorney, Matt prioritizes working closely with local,
state and federal law enforcement. The top priority of the
United States Attorney's Office and the United States Department of Justice is working to
combat and prevent terrorism within the United States. In accordance with Attorney General
Ashcroft's directive, the United States Attorney's Office has established an Anti-Terrorism
Advisory Council that works collaboratively with federal, state and local law enforcement. A
second priority of the United States Attorney's Office is the Attorney General's Project Safe
Neighborhoods initiative, which is reducing gun violence in our communities by targeting
violent offenders, armed career criminals, and illegal gun traffickers or possessors. Additional
priorities of the United States Attorney's Office are narcotics prosecution, civil rights violations,
white collar crime and cyber crime. The office also prosecutes immigration offenses, federal
regulatory offenses and public corruption; and it also defends the United States in any civil
actions brought against a federal government agency.
Prior to his appointment, Matt worked for the law firms of Finley Alt Smith in Des Moines,
Iowa; Briggs & Morgan in the Twin Cities; and corporate counsel for a national grocery
company, SUPERVALU. In addition, Matt was also a successful small businessman owning
interests in a trailer manufacturing company, a daycare and a concrete supply company.
Matt received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in 1991. In 1995, he graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law and also received a Master of Business Administration. He is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of Iowa and Minnesota and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.