Chuck’s US att’y picks

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday announced his recommendations on President Biden’s nominees for three New York US attorney positions.

The powerful posts control major federal investigations, including a reported probe of whether Gov. Cuomo’s administration falsified data in COVID-19 nursing-home deaths. Biden is expected to accept Schumer’s picks.

Damian Williams is set to be nominated as US attorney for the Manhattan-based Southern District of New York, replacing Audrey Strauss, said Schumer.

Williams, 40, would be the first black person to serve in the role if he’s confirmed by the Senate. He currently is chief of the securities and commodities fraud task force at the SDNY.

The Southern District often is referred to as the “Sovereign District” due to its relative independence from the main Justice Department and its role in high-profile cases.

Breon Peace, a former assistant US attorney, is the pick for Brooklyn-based US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. That office and the FBI reportedly are reviewing the Cuomo nursing home coverup, which could amount to criminal obstruction.

For the Buffalo-based Western District, Schumer announced Trini Ross, who would be the first AfricanAmerican woman in the role, according to Schumer. She currently works in the inspector general’s office of the National Science Foundation.

Schumer did not announce a pick for New York’s Albanybased Northern District. His spokesman said that selection is not yet ready to be announced.