The presidential administration of Donald Trump has made a decision to install interim leadership for U.S. attorney positions in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This has been done in anticipation of Senate confirmation for Trump’s nominees for these key places. In Manhattan’s Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon has been selected to serve in the interim; and for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, the choice was John Durham.
The roles were earlier occupied by former Deputy U.S. Attorney Edward Kim and First Assistant Carolyn Pokorny. They had filled these positions subsequent to the resignations of Damian Williams and Breon Peace. These two individuals had been nominated by ex-President Joe Biden, and they opted to step down before the commencement of Trump’s presidency.
These changes were suggested by multiple GOP Congress members in a correspondence from December. They prompted Trump to dismiss all holdover U.S. attorneys across the nation’s 94 judicial districts. This included the first assistants of the former top prosecutors. They recommended that Trump should personally select their provisional successors.
According to insiders who had spoken to Bloomberg Law the previous month, there was apprehension within Trump’s transition team. They were concerned that the temporary U.S. attorneys, who had been promoted following their Biden-nominated predecessors’ departures, might have political affiliations to the former president.
Jay Clayton, Trump’s former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and a regular golfing partner, was reported to replace Williams, as revealed by Trump immediately after his election. Clayton’s selection was considered unique as he possessed no experience with the SDNY or with criminal prosecutions, unlike Williams and his predecessors.
Prior to his role in the SEC, Clayton had around 17 years of experience representing banks, hedge funds, significant corporations, and investors at Sullivan & Cromwell. Nassau County judge, Joseph Nocella, was Trump’s choice for the Brooklyn appointment. Senate confirmation is mandatory for both appointees.
Both Danielle Sassoon and John Durham are seasoned prosecutors. Sassoon stepped into her role late on Monday by the authority of an order sanctioned by Trump’s acting Attorney General James McHenry III. She has several noteworthy achievements, one of these includes serving as the core prosecutor against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried, notorious as a crypto miscreant, was successfully prosecuted under Sassoon’s lead and his trial concluded with a conviction in November 2023. Subsequently, he was sentenced to a term of 25 years. Sassoon was also involved in the case against Lawrence Ray, a cult leader from Sarah Lawrence College.
Ray was charged with sexual and psychological maltreatment of his daughter’s peers and friends. In January 2023, the case ended with Ray’s conviction and he received a 60-year sentence. John Durham, appointed for Brooklyn, began his service in the Eastern District’s Long Island office in 2005 and has been instrumental in the federal government’s actions against MS-13.
Last year, Durham was promoted to the role of chief of the Long Island office. Interestingly, his father John H. Durham was appointed as special counsel to delve into the FBI’s examination of alleged links between Trump’s initial presidential campaign and Russia.
Durham is an alumnus of the College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 1998, and later obtained his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2001. On Tuesday, he delivered a statement, reiterating their unwavering and substantial mission of battling severe threats in the district.
Durham’s stated aims ranged from dealing with violent crimes, terrorism, and drug dealing to countering cybercrime, corruption, white-collar fraud, and civil disputes. This was all part of their commitment to upholding the rule of law and pursuing justice. The White House did not provide any immediate response to a request for comment on these development.