Donald Trump plans to oust US Attorney prosecuting NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Sean Diddy Combs
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly set to replace the US Attorney prosecuting NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Sean Diddy Combs.
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly set to replace the US Attorney prosecuting NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Sean Diddy Combs.
Trump said Thursday that he wants to oust Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), and replace him with Jay Clayton, his former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The proposed change, which Trump revealed in a Truth Social post, comes in the midst of Williams overseeing a number of high-profile prosecutions.
These include the public corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams and the sex trafficking case against Sean Diddy Combs.
Williams was nominated in 2021 by President Joe Biden, making him the first Black American to lead the prosecutors office, and the youngest, aged 41.
Trump said Thursday that he wants to oust Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), and replace him with Jay Clayton, his former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Damian Williams has overseen a number of high-profile prosecutions including the public corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams and the sex trafficking case against Sean Diddy Combs
Sean DiddyCombs was charged with a host of sex trafficking and racketeering offenses following his September 16 arrest
Had Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidency, he was believed to be in the running for a top appointment after making his mark in the prosecution industry under the SDNY leadership.
The SDNY is known for its handling of complex cases and has secured historic convictions including the fallen crypto king, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Fried and Diddy are currently being held in the same jail - the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Diddy was arrested and hit with an indictment accusing him of years of coercion and abuse while using blackmail and violence to control his victims.
He has also been accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances referred to as Freak Offs.
Williams departure from office will come as his leadership pursues the bribery and corruption case against Adams.
Federal prosecutor Hagan Scotten said last month there was evidence that Adams, 64, attempted to tamper with a witness in the investigation and claimed that after FBI agents contacted one witness, the individual was given a clear message from the defendant that they should not be truthful to the FBI.
Adams is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and receiving campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
He is also accused of defrauding NYC taxpayers of $10million through allegedly fraudulent campaign funds.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in September and has claimed he has done nothing wrong.
It was not immediately clear how Williams departure might affect Adams case, though the president-elect said he believes the NYC mayor was unfairly targeted.
Trump has expressed sympathy for Adams, saying he had been targeted by lunatic prosecutors.
We were persecuted, Eric, Trump said to Adams during the recent Al Smith charity dinner. Youre gonna win, Eric.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with five offenses: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, wire fraud, and bribery
Clayton was just one of several nominations for top legal posts that Trump put forward on Thursday, as the president-election moves quickly to shape his new administration
But Trump now has his eyes on Clayton as Williams replacement, previously writing of the senior adviser and attorney at Manhattan law firm Sullivan & Cromwell: Jay is a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant.
Jay is going to be a strong Fighter for the Truth.
Clayton, 58,has no experience with criminal prosecutions but was a longtime corporate attorney before Trump put him forward to lead the SEC.
The incoming president in 2020 attempted to bring Clayton in as the dead of the SDNY without success, after former Attorney General Bill Barr tried to push out US Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
Clayton was just one of several nominations for top legal posts that Trump put forward on Thursday, as the president-election moves quickly to shape his new administration.
He picked Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who was the president-elects defence attorney during this years hush money trial in New York, to be assistant attorney-general at the Department of Justice.
Trump also nominated Blanches co-counsel Emil Bove to the post of principal associate deputy attorney-general and acting deputy attorney-general, while Blanche is in process of being confirmed by the Senate.
Thursdays bombshell nominations come after Trump sent shockwaves through the Department of Justice a day prior when he picked Matt Gaetz, the incendiary former Florida congressman who practised law briefly before joining Congress, as US attorney-general.
The nomination sounded alarm bells through Washingtons legal community over concerns that Gaetz could have the ability to use law enforcement against the president-elects political opponents.
