President-elect Trump announced Thursday that former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton will become U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
This role is considered by legal experts to be one of the most powerful positions in the Department of Justice.
President Trump: “Jay is a highly respected business leader, lawyer and public servant.'' I wrote it on Truth Sociallists Creighton's educational and professional accolades.
“Jay, like all of us at Make America Great Again, will be a strong fighter for truth,” he said.
Clayton, who is registered as an independent, began leading the SEC in May 2017 after being appointed to the post in January, when President Trump first took office. Prior to working at the SEC, he was a partner at the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, specializing in large corporate mergers and acquisitions, and returned to the firm in 2021.
His tenure at the SEC was primarily focused on forging bipartisan compromises on updating financial market structures, establishing the commission's approach to crypto-related investment proposals, and strengthening rules for investment advisers. .
The former SEC chairman was named the top federal district attorney in charge of Manhattan after President Trump fired then-U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Berman in 2020 for refusing to resign.
But Democrats criticized the selection as Trump's attempt to politicize the Justice Department, which was investigating former fixer Michael Cohen and his then-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. and faced fierce opposition.
“Forty-seven years ago, Elliott Richardson had the courage to say no to gross abuses of presidential power. Jay Clayton faces a similar choice today. and allow the government to intervene in investigations by state authorities. “Only the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York can stand up to this corruption, withdraw his name from consideration, and save his reputation from being destroyed overnight,” said then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck.・Mr. Schumer (New York) said. In a statement at the time.
The scandal effectively erased his chances of confirmation.
Clayton announced shortly after the 2020 election that he would resign from the SEC at the end of the year. and succeeded President Biden's Appointment to this Role by Gary Gensler.
The Southern District of New York also investigated Trump himself at one point, but did not indict him over the hush-money payments that later led to his conviction in New York state court.
Sylvan Lane contributed reporting.
