Hutchinson, Asa

[Page 366]Asa Hutchinson (1950–) was the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from 2001 to 2003. An Arkansas politician, Hutchinson was appointed the youngest U.S. Attorney in history by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. An aggressive prosecutor, Hutchinson drew national attention with his successful prosecution in 1985 of the Christian Identity white supremacist group called the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. The prosecution followed a three-day standoff between the Missouri group and federal agents, over firearms violations—a standoff that Hutchinson himself negotiated the end of, before charging the group's leadership with illegal weapons possession, and in the case of the polygamist leader James Ellison, RICO violations.

The attention from the case was swiftly followed by the dawn of Hutchinson's political career, ...