New York Metropolis is ready to have a brand new prime federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump on Saturday introduced that he plans to appoint former prosecutor and commodities regulator James McDonald to be the subsequent United States Lawyer for the Southern District of New York.
The announcement on social media comes after Trump tapped the present U.S. Lawyer for SDNY, Jay Clayton, to function the subsequent director of nationwide intelligence after his interim decide derailed the effort to resume a key surveillance regulation.
A seasoned litigator with regulation agency Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald was one of many attorneys who represented Trump in his legal enchantment, helped persuade the DOJ to drop a fraud case in opposition to an Indian billionaire earlier this 12 months and has defended Dwell Nation in opposition to antitrust circumstances.
“I’m assured that Jamie will ship robust outcomes for our Nation as the subsequent United States Lawyer for the Southern District of New York, as he has the respect of, and can work fantastically with, our Legislation Enforcement Patriots, the Authorized Neighborhood, and the Judicial Bench,” Trump stated in a social media submit.
A view of the choose’s bench inside a federal courtroom on the Daniel Patrick Moynihan US Federal Courthouse in Manhattan, New York Metropolis, on Friday, June 6, 2025. This federal courthouse is house to the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Jefferson Siegel/POOL/AFP through Getty Photos
McDonald beforehand served because the director of enforcement on the Commodities and Futures Buying and selling Fee, making his nomination a possible signal that SDNY will proceed its high-profile prosecutions of insider buying and selling on prediction markets.
The workplace is prosecuting a former special forces soldier and Google employee for utilizing inside data to make 1000’s on Polymarket.
“The Workplace welcomes the President’s alternative to steer the SDNY. Mr. McDonald is extensively revered,” a SDNY spokesperson stated in an announcement.
In contrast to Clayton — who got here to the workplace with little expertise in legal regulation — McDonald beforehand labored as an assistant U.S. Lawyer in the identical workplace, in addition to a stint with the Workplace of White Home Counsel throughout the Bush administration and clerking for Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts.
A associate on the prime white shoe regulation agency Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald was a part of the authorized crew hired to characterize Trump as he appealed his legal hush money conviction in New York, which remains to be pending.
McDonald was additionally a part of the authorized crew that represented Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who was indicted by the Justice Division in 2024 on conspiracy and fraud fees. In Might, the Justice Division requested a choose to drop these fees.
Sources with data of Trump’s determination informed ABC Information that McDonald met with chief choose of the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York on Friday forward of Trump’s weekend announcement.
If the Senate doesn’t shortly act on his nomination, McDonald would require approval from the judges within the district, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester.
McDonald’s nomination provides to the rising checklist of Trump’s private attorneys occupying prime spots within the Justice Division, together with the performing Lawyer Common Todd Blanche and Solicitor Common, D. John Sauer.
