NY federal prosecutor of Jamaican heritage being pushed for US Attorney post
Published:Wednesday | March 24, 2021 | 10:08 AM
Veteran federal prosecutor in New York, Damian Williams, whose parents are Jamaicans, is being eyed to become the next United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most high-profile and independent posts in the Department of Justice.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader and Senior New York Senator, Chuck Schumer, publicly declared his support for Williams’ nomination.
Traditionally, prosecutorial and judicial candidate selections made by senators for their home states carry significant weight in the presidential nomination process.
President Joe Biden is reportedly set to nominate Williams.
If this happens, Williams would be put before the US Senate for consideration and a confirmation hearing.
If he is confirmed in the post, he would become the first black person to do so.
The child of two Jamaican immigrants, Williams was born in Brooklyn and went on to earn degrees at prestigious universities.
Williams currently serves as the head of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force at Southern District of New York where he oversees more than 20 federal prosecutors in cases involving insider trading, financial fraud, market manipulation, and fraudulent investment schemes.
More about Damian Williams
* He holds degrees from Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the Yale Law School.
* Williams served as a clerk to then-federal appellate judge and now head of the US Department of Justice, Merrick Garland, and to late Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
* Following his clerkships, Williams worked in the private sector at white collar Manhattan law firm Paul Weiss before joining the Southern District of New York as a federal prosecutor in 2012.
* He worked on several high-profile cases, including the prosecutions of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Representative Chris Collins on corruption and insider trading charges respectively.
* He is the nephew of Orville Williams who was a goalkeeper for Jamaica College when the school won the Manning Cup in 1963.
* Damian’s younger brother, Andre, is a dentist in the United States.
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