Michael J. Sullivan (born October 3, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (2001–2009) and Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (2006–2009).

A native of the Holbrook–Abington region, Sullivan served earlier in his career as the Plymouth County District Attorney, and as a Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

[3] Among his initiatives was a budget amendment to have the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority charge municipalities for sewage management by volume instead of population, which moved much of the cost burden away from outlying towns and toward Boston.

According to the Boston Phoenix, "every US attorney prosecuting Operation Tarmac cases [...] either reduced or dropped the charges" except for Sullivan, who wrote, "Ignoring the alleged criminal activity of illegal immigrants sends the wrong message to the rest of the world.

"[9] Within a few weeks of taking office, Sullivan organized a health-care fraud unit in his district and nearly tripled the number of prosecutors assigned to medical cases, prosecuting companies such as TAP Pharmaceuticals as well as smaller facilities and individual providers.

[10] Sullivan presented charges, in Boston, on November 23, 2005, against Abdullah Khadr, an Egyptian from Canada who is alleged to have sold arms to the Taliban.

[16] The National Rifle Association of America has criticized the IACP report, calling it "a rubber stamp, bought and paid for, of the pre-existing agenda for gun ban groups."

The report was produced with assistance from the Joyce Foundation's Communications Director and with contributions from gun control advocates such as Kristen Rand and Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center.

[22] Sullivan resigned as Acting Director effective January 20, 2009 to make way for incoming President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.

[23] Sullivan announced on February 14, that he would collect signatures to run for the Republican nomination in the 2013 special election to succeed John Kerry as U.S.