I really know very little about Timothy Heaphy, but I do know this: On August 8, 2006, Heaphy contributed $500 to Jim Webb’s (D) campaign. ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?27020221757>.)) On February 27, 2008, Heaphy contributed $500 to Mark Warner’s (D) campaign; he contributed another $200 to Warner (D) on September 15, 2008. ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28020162256>.)) ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28020573333>.)) He contributed $401 to Barack Obama’s election campaign on February 22, 2008 and another $1,000 to the “Obama Victory Fund” on October 24, 2008. ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28930938587>.)) ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28934785774>.)) He’s also contributed $500 to the “Forward Together PAC”, a Democratic leadership PAC on May 19, 2006. ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?26950184768>.)) He’s also contributed $1,000 ($500 on March 26, 2008, and another $500 on September 28, 2008) to Representative Tom Perriello’s (D) election campaign against Virgil Goode. ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28990842857>.)) ((Federal Election Commission. <http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28933520860>.))

And folks, that’s just for federal candidates. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Heaphy has contributed $2,037 to various state candidates and PACs, all Democratic in nature: $500 to Tim Kaine (D) for Governor (12/10/2003), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) $200 to Creigh Deeds for Attorney General (08/08/2005), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) $250 to “Moving Virginia Forward” a leadership PAC of Tim Kaine’s (04/27/2007), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) $247 in-kind to Constance Brennan for Delegate (09/14/2007), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) $300 to Creigh Deeds for Governor (06/30/2008), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) $300 to Brian Moran for Governor (06/30/2008), ((Virginia Public Access Project.)) and $240 in-kind to Steve Shannon for Attorney General (12/12/2008). ((Virginia Public Access Project.))

Timothy Heaphy may be an exceptional prosecutor and may do a great job prosecuting cases in the Western District of Virginia, after all, he has a dozen years of prosecutorial experience in federal courts, however, it still looks like political cronyism. And ironically enough, Heaphy penned an article for Legal Times titled “Good Choice, Sir: Let’s Try a Truly Merit-based System for Picking U.S. Attorneys”.