Michael W. Mosman

In 1988, he began working as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, remaining until 2001.[3] That year he became the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, serving until 2003.[3] He replaced Kristine Olson Rogers who had resigned.[8]

In 2003, United States President George W. Bush nominated Mosman to serve as judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon on May 8 to take the seat of Robert E. Jones, who had assumed senior status on the court.[3]

Mosman was confirmed unanimously in a 93-0 vote on September 25th, 2003 by the United States Senate during the 108th United States Congress.[9] Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Gordon H. Smith spoke at the confirmation hearing, highlighting his prior service in the war on terrorism and that a bipartisan commission established to fill the vacancy left by Robert E. Jones had discovered him.[5]

He served as Chief Judge for approximately 4 years from February 1, 2016 to December 23, 2019.[1]

He served a full 7-year term as a Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from May, 2013 - May, 2020. He is also a Judge of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court since 2018.[10]

On February 1, 2008, in Lemons v. Bradbury, Judge Mosman dismissed the lawsuit and lifted an injunction against Oregon's new civil union law.[11] Judge Mosman had issued the temporary injunction in December 2007 to prevent Oregon's new civil union law from taking effect in January.[6] This was in response to a legal challenge by a group that had attempted to place a referendum on the November 2008 ballot to block the civil union law that had been passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly.[12] The legal issue centered on how the Oregon Secretary of State verified signatures on petitions.[6]

In 2017, Judge Mosman approved renewal of a FISA Court warrant for Carter Page, a former adviser to the 2016 Trump Campaign. In July 2018, the warrant application was released publicly, marking the first time FISA warrant application materials were made public.[13] The heavily-redacted, 412-page application cites many sources, including confidential informants.[14] Among those many sources, the application cites the Steele dossier, leading a legal commentator to criticize the basis of the warrant.[15]

In April, 2020, Judge Mosman granted Nike's motion dismissing Kawhi Leonard's copyright claims over a disputed logo, writing

"It's not merely a derivative work of the sketch itself...I do find it to be new and significantly different from the design."[16]

In July 2020, the Oregon Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum, requested a restraining order based on the detainment actions of Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol personnel. The AG alleged that unmarked federal agents had unlawfully detained protesters in Portland without probable cause.[17]

Michael Mosman rejected the request for a restraining order, stating that "because it has not shown it is vindicating an interest that is specific to the state itself — I find the State of Oregon lacks standing here and therefore deny its request for a temporary restraining order".[18]