Ousting of US prosecutor thrusts low-profile markets regulator into unwelcome spotlight
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Friday’s decision by the US Department of Justice to replace a top federal prosecutor has thrust one of the Trump administration’s more low-profile, bipartisan officials into the spotlight, shocking people who know and have worked with him.
Over the past day, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton has come under enormous pressure to spurn his nomination to replace US Attorney in Manhattan Geoffrey Berman, who was fired by US President Donald Trump on Saturday after refusing to resign in a Friday night statement.
In his post at the Southern District of New York, Berman had led the prosecution of high profile corruption and Wall Street crimes, and had been investigating Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani.
“Clayton can allow himself to be used in the brazen Trump-Barr scheme to interfere in investigations by the US Attorney for SDNY, or he can stand up to this corruption, withdraw his name from consideration and save his own reputation from overnight ruin,” the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, tweeted on Saturday.
The firing also raises questions about the future leadership of the SEC, which could potentially fall to ranking Republican commissioner Hester Peirce, an ultra-conservative who frequently votes against penalizing companies for wrongdoing. Peirce did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
“Given the controversy, I think he [Clayton] will bow out,” said JW Verret, a securities law professor at George Mason University who said he knows Clayton from his work on the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee. While Clayton has been criticized by Democrats and consumer advocates for pushing the Trump administration’s agenda to cut red tape, he is generally respected for his expertise and described as thoughtful and affable.
Three people with knowledge of Clayton’s thinking said he had been on the lookout for a senior government post that would allow him to be based in New York where he was full-time before joining the Washington-based SEC role.
But two of those sources and other attorneys questioned whether he would now want a role that had sparked such a political storm. Verret speculated that Clayton may not have had all the facts when agreeing to be nominated.