WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has selected James McDonald, a former federal prosecutor and former enforcement chief at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, replacing Jay Clayton after Trump's nomination of Clayton to become director of national intelligence, according to the president's announcement.
Trump announced the selection on June 13, describing McDonald as a former assistant U.S. attorney with experience in federal law enforcement and financial regulation. The appointment would require confirmation by the U.S. Senate before McDonald could assume the role on a permanent basis.
The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, based in Manhattan, is one of the nation's most prominent federal prosecutors' offices. It has long handled high-profile cases involving financial crime, terrorism, public corruption and securities fraud, and has historically maintained a reputation for operational independence within the Justice Department.
In a post announcing the nomination, Trump said, "I am confident that Jamie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York." The president added that McDonald has the respect of law enforcement officials, the legal community and the judiciary.
McDonald most recently has been a litigation partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Earlier in his career, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and later led enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during Trump's first administration. He also clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and previously worked in the White House Counsel's Office under President George W. Bush, according to publicly available biographical information.
More recently, McDonald joined Trump's legal team in the appeal of the president's New York criminal conviction involving falsified business records. His selection therefore places one of Trump's personal lawyers in line to lead a federal prosecutor's office that has played a central role in several investigations connected to the president and his associates over the past decade.
The nomination follows Trump's decision to nominate Clayton, who has led the Manhattan office, as the next director of national intelligence after the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard. Clayton's intelligence nomination also requires Senate confirmation.
As of Friday, the White House had formally announced McDonald's selection, but the Senate had not yet acted on the nomination. Details regarding the timing of confirmation proceedings remained unclear.
