Samuel F. Wright

Samuel F. Wright is a Washington DC–based attorney active in veterans issues. Wright lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Military career While a law student, Wright was commissioned in November 1973 as an ensign in the Naval Reserve, via the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) Student Program. After graduating from the University of Houston Law Center, he passed the Texas bar exam and reported to active duty in January 1977, and attended the Naval Justice School. In March 1980, he left active duty and joined the Naval Reserve JAGC Program. He reentered active duty multiple times, and accumulated more than a decade of full-time active duty service. He retired from the Navy Reserve on April 1, 2007, with the rank of captain.

Legal career In 1982, while continuing in the Naval Reserve, Wright joined the United States Department of Labor (DOL) as an attorney, where he litigated to enforce the Veterans' Reemployment Rights Law (VRR). That 1940 law gives individuals the right to reemployment after military service or training. Wright served on an interagency task force which recommended that Congress revise the VRR. In 1994, Congress passed the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to make those changes. In April 2008, Wright joined the law firm Tully Rinckey P.L.L.C. as a partner, with the U.S. Navy Veterans Association as a client. He announced his resignation from Tully Rinckey in January, 2009 and was no longer employed by Tully Rinckey by April 2009. He apparently started to work for the Reserve Officers Association as their attorney around that time, but continued to represent the U.S. Naval Veterans Association.

Wright serves as director of the National Defense Committee's Military/Veteran Re-employment Rights Project. He is also an advisor to the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Lobbying for Navy Veterans Association Wright played a prominent role in an effort to exempt the U.S. Navy Veterans Association (USNVA) from regulation in Virginia. On February 23, 2009, the Virginia Division of Consumer Protection barred from soliciting for donations because it had failed to register as a charity and to make the necessary financial disclosures. Wright was retained to get the USNVA the right to solicit in Virginia and worked with a man who claimed to be Bobby Thompson, the chief financial officer of USNVA. In March 2010, the St. Petersburg Times published a series indicating that the USNVA was a one-man operation fraudulently soliciting money as a veterans' charity. In May 2009, Wright met with then-Attorney General Bill Mims to get the bar reversed, but on August 18, 2009, the USNVA received a letter stating that the attorney general concurred with the bar. Out of the $67,500 Virginia contributions, Thompson made only one $1,000 donation to a Democratic candidate.

On May 14, 2009, Thompson donated $2,000 to Del. Chris Jones (R), who chaired the House General Laws Committee. Wright later wrote Jones asking why USNVA could not solicit in Virginia. Jones investigated and responded in December 2009 that USNVA had not registered and that the Attorney General's Office had concurred in the regulator's determination. Wright later contacted Ticer's office, asking for assistance to make it easier for the association to operate in Virginia. Ticer introduced Virginia Senate Bill 563 that, among other purposes, exempted tax-exempt veterans' organizations such as the USNVA from having to register with Virginia regulators. The bill was unanimously approved by the Virginia House and Senate. After receiving the Thompson contributions, Cuccinelli and Wright met on February 15, 2010, to discuss the legislation which had passed the state senate. After learning about the March St. Petersburg Times reports, Ticer asked Governor Bob McDonnell (R), who received a $5,000 contribution from Thompson, to veto the bill she sponsored. On April 11, 2010, Wright found out about Ticer's request and asked her to withdraw her veto request. However, the Governor signed the bill on April 12, 2010. The new law took effect on July 1, 2010. Both Senator Ticer and Governor McDonnell have given the contributions from Thompson to other veterans groups.

Officials in at least five states – New Mexico, Ohio, Hawaii, Missouri, and Florida – are investigating the association. The USNVA is currently banned from soliciting in at least the states of New Mexico and Hawaii. In August 2010, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a nationwide arrest warrant had issued for Bobby Thompson, who had stolen the identity and Social Security Number of a victim who was not connected to the USNVA. Corday stated, "We know he bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million."