With Tulsi Gabbard poised to step down formally later this week as the nation’s director of national intelligence, Donald Trump is nominating U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to succeed her. That in turn means the president will have to choose someone new to lead the prosecutors’ office for the Southern District of New York, widely seen as one of the nation’s most important U.S. attorney’s offices.
On Friday afternoon, he announced his choice, publishing a message to his social media platform. It read in part:
I am pleased to announce my intent to appoint James M. McDonald as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A native of the Great State of Oklahoma, Jamie is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and served as Director of Enforcement at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission during my First Term. Jamie is currently a Senior Partner at the Highly Respected Law Firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, a former Law Clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and a distinguished Graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, and Harvard College.
McDonald does have the kind of experience that many of Trump’s nominees lack. There was, however, one key detail the president neglected to mention: McDonald also served on Trump’s criminal defense team before he returned to the White House.
This detail stood out because McDonald is one of several lawyers who worked for Trump, whom the president has taken steps to reward: