Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams to resign before Trump takes office

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced Monday that helium would resign successful December, up of President Elect Donald Trump taking implicit the White House.

Trump said earlier this period that he plans to nominate Jay Clayton arsenic the caller U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York. 

“Today is simply a bittersweet time for me, arsenic I denote my resignation arsenic United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  It is bitter successful the consciousness that I americium leaving my imagination job, starring an instauration I emotion that is filled with the finest nationalist servants successful the world.  It is saccharine successful that I americium assured I americium leaving astatine a clip erstwhile the Office is functioning astatine an incredibly precocious level – upholding and exceeding its already precocious modular of excellence, integrity, and independence,” Williams said successful a statement. 

“That occurrence is owed to the vocation attorneys, unit members, and instrumentality enforcement agents of this Office. Working with them during my tenure has been a privilege of a lifetime.  They are worthy custodians of this Office’s contented of doing the close thing, the close way, for the close reasons. They are patriots. They are my family.  And I volition miss them dearly.”

Barry Williams for New York Daily News; AP

Senator Bob Menendez (left) and Mayor Eric Adams (right) are pictured extracurricular Federal Court successful Manhattan this year. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News; AP)

In summation to making past arsenic the archetypal Black U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York when President Biden nominated him successful precocious 2021, Williams, 44, is 1 of the youngest ever to clasp the position.

Williams has overseen respective historically important prosecutions. He brought the ongoing nationalist corruption lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams — the archetypal against a sitting New York City politician successful the modern epoch — and secured the convictions of fallen FTX laminitis Sam Bankman-Fried for 1 of the largest-ever fiscal frauds and ex-New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez for taking bribes portion caput of the almighty Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

In a statement, Williams said helium would measurement down connected Dec. 13. Deputy Manhattan U.S. Attorney Edward Kim volition go the acting U.S. lawyer aft his departure.

Clayton, a longtime firm lawyer and Trump’s erstwhile main of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has nary acquisition with transgression prosecutions.