Sessions Names Interim US Attorneys for 3 New York Districts

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM[/caption] U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has named 17 prosecutors to serve as interim U.S. attorneys, including appointments for New York’s Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts. Geoffrey Berman, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, has been named interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District; and Richard Donoghue, senior vice president of CA Technologies on Long Island, has been named as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the DOJ’s release, some acting U.S. attorneys’ terms are up on Jan. 4. The attorney general may appoint interim U.S. attorneys to 120-day terms, but may not appoint prior nominees for the seats to who the U.S. Senate refused to give its consent. Berman was a prosecutor in the Southern District from 1990 to 1994. Among his colleagues at Greenberg Traurig is former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has been a high-profile ally of President Donald Trump. Prior to his tenure at the Southern District, Berman was part of a team of attorneys that investigated the Iran-Contra affair, successfully prosecuting a former CIA employee for tax fraud. Berman takes the reins of the prestigious Southern District—known as the “Sovereign District” among government lawyers for its history of exerting its independence from presidential administrations—on Jan. 5 Berman and Donoghue were both part of a list of names of possible contenders for vacant U.S. attorney positions throughout the past year; at one point, Berman, who led Greenberg Traurig’s New Jersey office, was reportedly being considered for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. Edward McNally, a partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres, had been mentioned as a possible nominee for both offices. Donoghue worked as an Eastern District prosecutor for 11 years and received strong support from Eastern District alums to take over the office, said State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat who represents portions of Long Island. He said he was among 40 Eastern District alums who signed a letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer expressing their support for Donoghue. Kaminsky cited the office’s aggressive pursuit of members of the MS-13 criminal syndicate while Donoghue headed up the office’s Criminal Division, as well as his work on public corruption cases, as qualities that would make Donoghue a good fit for the job. “I think he’s a perfect, tough and fair-minded prosecutor,” he said. Daniel R. Alonso, another former Eastern District prosecutor who now works as managing director and general counsel for Exiger, a risk and compliance firm, said that, by judging backgrounds of both Berman and Donoghue, they appear to be “mainstream” appointees. He also said that, given the fact that both appointees are leaving private sector jobs for government posts, it seems likely that they might be the eventual nominees for permanent appointments. Since March, when former Eastern District U.S. Attorney Robert Capers stepped down from his post and former Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was fired after refusing to resign, Bridget Rohde has served as acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District and Joon Kim has served as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District. Before being elevated to those positions, both Rohde and Kim were second-in-command of their respective offices. Rohde is taking back her old job, according to a release. In addition to Berman and Donoghue, Sessions appointed Grant Jaquith as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York and Craig Carpenito to the District of New Jersey. Sessions’ other interim U.S. attorney appointments were Shawn Anderson to the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands; Gregory Brooker to the District of Minnesota; Stephen Dambruch to the District of Rhode Island; Dayle Elieson to the District of Nevada; Duane Evans to the Eastern District of Louisiana; Timothy Garrison to the Western District of Missouri; Nick Hanna to the Central District of California; Joseph Harrington to the Eastern District of Washington; Maria Chapa Lopez to the Middle District of Florida; Kenji Price to the District of Hawaii; Matthew Schneider to the Eastern District of Michigan; Gretchen Shappert to the District of the Virgin Islands; and Alexander Van Hook to the Western District of Louisiana.