The federal prosecutor who has overseen the convictions of Senetor Robert Menendez, Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried disclosed on Monday that he will step down as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York next month.
Damian Williams, who has also been overseeing the prosecutions of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and rap artist Sean “Diddy” Combs, said in a statement announcing his intention to resign effective at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 13 stated that it has been an honour to serve the ameraican people for the past years of his works in the country.
Willams was the first black man that has held the prestigious and powerful post, was a veteran of the office. He was nominated by the president Joe Biden in 2021. Trump who has been elected as the next president thas already announced that he will be replacing him.
The office was once headed by Rudy Giuliani, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office has been the area that has handled some of the most complex and high profile criminal cases in the country in the past years. Soem of the cases that were handled include public corruption, securities fraud and terrorism cases.
During the time he had spent in the office Williams had secured the sentencing of Menendez, the longtime Democratic senator from New Jersey, on bribery charges; FTX CEO Bankman-Fried on fraud charges; and Maxwell on sex trafficking charges.
Some of the individual who are currently awaiting trial includes Adams on bribery and wire fraud charges and Combs on an array of charges that include sex trafficking and racketeering. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges brought before them.
Among other tasks, Williams was also in charge of a case involving an Iranian man who was charged in a plot to assassinate then-candidate Trump earlier this year.
Wiliams who announced his decision to step down in a statement stated it was a bitter sweet decision.
He noted that it has been seen as bitter situitom because he has decided to leave his dream job which included the leading of an institution that was full of love and he loved. He further nited that leaving was bitter because hea was leaving an institution that was filled with some of the finest civil servants in the world. He further explained that it has been sweet because he has decided to step down at a point that the office is performing at a high level and pholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence.
It has been confirmed that Williams’ deputy, Edward Y. Kim, will become acting U.S. attorney after his departure.
In an earlier announcement by the President-elect, it was confirmed that he will be nominating his former Securities and Exchange Commission head Jay Clayton to head the office.
Trump had first nominated Clayton for the post in 2020, but his nomination was scuttled amid opposition from New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats and the circumstances of then-U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s departure from the office. Berman was fired by Trump after resisting efforts to force him to resign to make way for Clayton.
Berman’s deputy Audrey Strauss took over as acting U.S. attorney and was later formally appointed to the post, which she held until October 2021.
Trump had sacked the holder of the post before Berman Preet Bharara, after initially asking him to remain in the post.
In his statement announcing Clayton’s nomination, Trump called him a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant.
Trump stated that the appointed candidate was in the run to be one of the best fit for the post as he hopes that the will be a strong Fighter for the Truth as we Make America Great Again.
