Is US Attorney Griffin Serving Illegally? Or Is DoJ Lying About Not Using Patriot Act Appointment?

Emptywheel at firedoglake says the Administration has repeatedly claimed that it never had any intention of appointing Tim Griffin using the PATRIOT Act provision giving the AG authority to appoint USAs directly. Most recently, designated firewall defense lawyer Brad Berenson stated that Griffin was not, in fact, appointed using the PATRIOT Act provision. But if Griffin really was appointed as a normal interim USA, his appointment would have expired on April 20. I can only think of two possibilities. First, that Rove lackey Tim Griffin is serving as USA in Arkansas despite having no legal basis to do so. Or, that Griffin actually was appointed using the PATRIOT Act provision despite repeated Administration assurances to the contrary.