The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Back to work
After resigning Friday, top federal prosecutor in Connecticut is back on the job — at least temporarily
NEW HAVEN >> Deirdre Daly, Connecticut’s 51st U.S. attorney who resigned from the post Friday, returned to work Monday, according to a statement released from her office.
In a brief statement issued from her office, Daly said she will remain in the office as the U.S. attorney for Connecticut for the time being.
“I thank the Attorney General and the Administration for affording me the opportunity to remain as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut so that I might complete 20 years of service to the Department of Justice in October,” said Daly in released statement. “I look forward to continuing to work on behalf of the residents of Connecticut in my remaining time, and I will focus on an orderly transition as I complete what has been a rewarding tenure in the Office.”
Daly, along with 45 other U.S. attorneys who were appointed by former President Barack Obama in federal districts across the country,
was asked by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign Friday.
Under the Federal Employees Retirement System, federal employees over the age of 50 can receive early retirement benefits if they have worked more than 20 years, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
In a released statement Friday, Daly said serving as the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut has been the “gift of a lifetime.”
“I am extremely proud of the tremendous accomplishments of the men and women of this office during my tenure,” she said in a statement announcing her immediate resignation Friday. “I applaud their tireless work holding our most violent offenders accountable, protecting our children and our environment, standing up for our most vulnerable victims, and not hesitating to stand up to the powerful.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday that Mike Gustafson, the lead Assistant U.S. Attorney under Daly, would act as the district’s acting U.S. attorney until a replacement was confirmed in Washington.
Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, with 63 Assistant U.S. attorneys and 52 other staff filling offices in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport, is charged with enforcing federal criminal laws in the District of Connecticut. The office also represents the federal government in civil matters.
Daly is the first woman to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the District of Connecticut. She was nominated by Obama in March 2014. She has formerly served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut and New York.