[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson on Tuesday asked the remaining Trump-era U.S. lawyers in a conference call to step down at the end of the month, according to a Justice Department official on appeal, opening the path to transition to new leadership under the Biden administration.
While it was routine for new administrations, Mr. Wilkinson’s request for U.S. lawyers in the Trump administration to leave over a period of several weeks contrasted with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ unannounced request in 2017 that Obama-era officials resign immediately.
Mr. Wilkinson’s decision echoed the transition processes of the Bush and Obama administrations, and was consistent with the Biden administration’s overall strategy of restoring executive standards.
U.S. attorneys, the top federal prosecutors in the country’s Justice Department offices, are usually political appointments made by presidents. When those appointed by former President Donald J. Trump step down, their positions will be filled by interim officials, most often career prosecutors from those offices, until their replacement is confirmed, said Tuesday the department in a statement.
“We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition,” Wilkinson said in the statement. “Until the nominees for U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the acting and acting heads of U.S. attorneys’ offices will ensure that the department continues to fulfill its crucial law enforcement mission,” rule of law and pursue a fair and impartial administration of justice in everything. “
The Justice Department said about a third of the nation’s 94 U.S. law firms were already overseen by interim or interim leaders, and President Biden would announce his candidates later.
Their confirmations will follow that of Judge Merrick B. Garland, Mr Biden’s candidate for attorney general, whose confirmation hearing is not expected to begin until February 22, according to a person briefed on the matter.
This week, Mr Wilkinson also asked questions about who will lead the investigations that pose political challenges to the Biden administration and his hope to restore the Justice Department’s image of impartiality.
He allowed John H. Durham, who will resign as a US attorney in Connecticut, to remain in the department as the special advocate solicits to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry, according to a senior official. responsible for the Ministry of Justice.
Since the spring of 2019, Mr Durham has been investigating whether any Obama administration officials broke the law by examining the Trump campaign’s potential links to Russia, a job which Mr Trump says would end in accusations. criminals against a series of former high-level officials. . While these indictments did not take place, former Attorney General William P. Barr secretly appointed Mr. Durham as special advocate last fall, while ensuring that the investigation went ahead. continues after Mr. Trump leaves.
Mr Wilkinson also asked David C. Weiss, the US lawyer from Delaware appointed by Mr Trump, to stay and continue to oversee the tax evasion investigation of Mr Biden’s son Hunter said the manager.
Dozens of U.S. lawyers appointed by Mr. Trump resigned in the weeks before and after the election, leaving 57 heads of federal prosecutors’ offices across the country appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Mr Wilkinson asked everyone except Mr Weiss to resign effective Feb. 28, according to the ministry official who was on call.
Michael R. Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, will resign but will remain in the Justice Department to oversee the broad investigation into the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill by a pro-Trump mob, officials told of his status. He will likely work at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, but the timing of his shift is unclear, an official said.
The investigation has its own political dimensions, as it focuses on whether Mr. Trump’s supporters have committed crimes and underpins the Democrats’ arguments to impeach Mr. Trump.
The investigation has already resulted in numerous criminal charges, including a handful of conspiracy indictments. Investigators and counterterrorism experts expect him to continue providing evidence on far-right groups and individual extremists, many of whom have declared their allegiance to the former president.
[ad_2]
Source link