The White House on Tuesday announced a raft of nominees to serve as top prosecutors for the Justice Department’s law enforcement districts, including the nomination of assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, to lead that key office.
Williams, recommended for the U.S. attorney post by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has worked in the Manhattan-based U.S. attorney’s office since 2012 and would be the first black man to serve as the top prosecutor in the important jurisdiction if confirmed.
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The Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over the country’s largest city and financial center, meaning its prosecutors are involved in some of the most high-profile cases prosecuted by the federal government.
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During Williams’s tenure, the office has overseen numerous high-profile cases, including the prosecution of former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen for federal campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress, as well as the prosecution of former Republican Rep. Chris Collins, who was sentenced to more than two years in prison for insider trading in January 2020.
The prosecutions of deceased hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell were also taken up by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
Alongside Williams, Biden nominated Breon Peace, another Schumer recommendation, to be U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Peace, a New York University School of Law graduate, has previous prosecutorial experience in the district.
Six other nominees for U.S. attorney roles were announced by the White House on Tuesday, including Jessica Aber, who is currently the assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Biden selected Aber to be the top prosecutor in the district, which has jurisdiction over suburban Washington, D.C.
Biden also selected Carla Freedman to lead the Northern District of New York’s U.S. attorney’s office, and William Ihlenfeld was nominated to be U.S. attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia.
Christopher Kavanaugh, senior counsel to the deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, was chosen to lead the Western District of Virginia, and Darcie McElwee was nominated to be U.S. attorney nominee for the District of Maine.
William Thompson, a state judge in West Virginia’s 25th Judicial Circuit, was nominated to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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“These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials in this field, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice,” the White House said in a news release announcing the nominations.
Each of the nominations is subject to confirmation in the Senate.
