Trump picks Jay Clayton to serve as Manhattan's top federal prosecutor

Source: Yahoo! News/Reuters

Updated Thu, November 14, 2024 at 6:57 PM EST


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican President-elect Donald Trump nominated former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to serve as Manhattan's top federal prosecutor on Thursday. Clayton, a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell who specializes in mergers and capital-raising, is a political independent who developed a reputation while at the SEC for trying to forge consensus with the agency's Democratic commissioners.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, as the unit is formally known, declined to comment. Clayton did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Clayton is likely to be seen as a somewhat unconventional pick for the office known for high-profile financial crime and public corruption prosecutions, as he does not have any criminal law experience. The SEC and Southern District typically work closely together on financial crimes enforcement.

During Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, the office has been led by Damian Williams, a longtime prosecutor with the office who previously led the district's securities and commodities task force. Williams has secured the convictions of former FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried and fund manager Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang. His office also won the conviction of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez on bribery charges, and charged New York Mayor Eric Adams with bribery. Bankman-Fried, Hwang, Menendez and Adams all pleaded not guilty.

Sometimes referred to as the "Sovereign District," the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office is known for an unusual degree of independence from the Justice Department compared with its counterparts around the country.

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