Trump selects Jay Clayton, a business-friendly former regulator, as top federal prosecutor in Manhattan
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Jay Clayton, a longtime corporate lawyer and former Wall Street regulator, to be the U.S. attorney overseeing Manhattan. Clayton served as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term but has no experience as a criminal prosecutor. If confirmed by the Senate, Clayton would head the nation’s most prestigious federal prosecutor’s office: the Southern District of New York, which has jurisdiction over the largest financial institutions and brings many high-profile white-collar and public-corruption cases. During his first term, Trump attempted to install Clayton as the U.S. attorney for SDNY in an effort to oust Geoffrey Berman, who held the post from 2018 to 2020. But Trump’s effort was met with fierce resistance in the office, including by Berman himself, who refused to leave until he was allowed to hand the reins to his deputy. Prosecutors in the Manhattan office balked at Clayton’s lack of experience in criminal law and worried he would simply do Trump’s bidding. The office is sometimes jokingly called the “Sovereign District,” and its prosecutors pride themselves on their independence, particularly when it comes to politically charged investigations. In 2020, Berman told the House Judiciary Committee: "I told the attorney general that I knew and liked Jay Clayton, but he was an unqualified choice for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York because he was never an AUSA and had no criminal experience." An AUSA is an assistant U.S. attorney. Clayton, 58, was a Wall Street lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, representing major financial institutions, before being named to the SEC in 2017. He was confirmed to the SEC on a 61-37 vote, winning over nine Democrats. But he was sharply criticized by progressives for his ties to Wall Street. At the SEC, Clayton loosened and rolled back regulations, to the chagrin of consumer advocates. But he also pursued an aggressive approach to enforcement, notably targeting, among others, Elon Musk, who has since emerged as a major Trump booster. The SEC under Clayton’s leadership in 2018 sued Tesla for fraud over Musk’s social media posts about securing funding to take the company private. After his departure from the SEC, he rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell, where he is a senior policy adviser and counsel. Clayton serves as lead independent director on the board of the private equity giant Apollo Global Management and he’s on the board of American Express. He also serves on an advisory board for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. If confirmed as U.S. attorney, Clayton would inherit a slate of high-profile cases, including a conspiracy and bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a sex-trafficking case against the hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs and the prosecution of former Sen. Bob Menendez, who is due to be sentenced for his conviction on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges in late January. Adams and Combs have pleaded not guilty. And Clayton would lead an office that has historically posed a significant threat to Trump. During Trump’s first term, SDNY investigated him as part of its inquiry into his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, whom it charged. Prosecutors unearthed evidence of Trump’s role in directing Cohen to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign to silence her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump, as well as reimbursement checks Trump cut to Cohen. Because Trump was president at the time, however, prosecutors didn’t bring charges against him. A local Manhattan prosecutor — District Attorney Alvin Bragg — later charged Trump with felonies stemming from the hush money payment and obtained his conviction in May.
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Jay Clayton, a longtime corporate lawyer and former Wall Street regulator, to be the U.S. attorney overseeing Manhattan.
Clayton served as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term but has no experience as a criminal prosecutor. If confirmed by the Senate, Clayton would head the nation’s most prestigious federal prosecutor’s office: the Southern District of New York, which has jurisdiction over the largest financial institutions and brings many high-profile white-collar and public-corruption cases.
During his first term, Trump attempted to install Clayton as the U.S. attorney for SDNY in an effort to oust Geoffrey Berman, who held the post from 2018 to 2020. But Trump’s effort was met with fierce resistance in the office, including by Berman himself, who refused to leave until he was allowed to hand the reins to his deputy.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan office balked at Clayton’s lack of experience in criminal law and worried he would simply do Trump’s bidding. The office is sometimes jokingly called the “Sovereign District,” and its prosecutors pride themselves on their independence, particularly when it comes to politically charged investigations.
In 2020, Berman told the House Judiciary Committee: "I told the attorney general that I knew and liked Jay Clayton, but he was an unqualified choice for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York because he was never an AUSA and had no criminal experience." An AUSA is an assistant U.S. attorney.
Clayton, 58, was a Wall Street lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, representing major financial institutions, before being named to the SEC in 2017. He was confirmed to the SEC on a 61-37 vote, winning over nine Democrats. But he was sharply criticized by progressives for his ties to Wall Street.
At the SEC, Clayton loosened and rolled back regulations, to the chagrin of consumer advocates. But he also pursued an aggressive approach to enforcement, notably targeting, among others, Elon Musk, who has since emerged as a major Trump booster. The SEC under Clayton’s leadership in 2018 sued Tesla for fraud over Musk’s social media posts about securing funding to take the company private.
After his departure from the SEC, he rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell, where he is a senior policy adviser and counsel. Clayton serves as lead independent director on the board of the private equity giant Apollo Global Management and he’s on the board of American Express. He also serves on an advisory board for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
If confirmed as U.S. attorney, Clayton would inherit a slate of high-profile cases, including a conspiracy and bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a sex-trafficking case against the hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs and the prosecution of former Sen. Bob Menendez, who is due to be sentenced for his conviction on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges in late January. Adams and Combs have pleaded not guilty.
And Clayton would lead an office that has historically posed a significant threat to Trump. During Trump’s first term, SDNY investigated him as part of its inquiry into his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, whom it charged.
Prosecutors unearthed evidence of Trump’s role in directing Cohen to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign to silence her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump, as well as reimbursement checks Trump cut to Cohen.
Because Trump was president at the time, however, prosecutors didn’t bring charges against him. A local Manhattan prosecutor — District Attorney Alvin Bragg — later charged Trump with felonies stemming from the hush money payment and obtained his conviction in May.
