WASHINGTON – Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked the remaining U.S. lawyers during the Trump era Tuesday during a conference to resign, according to a Justice Department official on the call and paved the way for the transition to new leadership. under the Biden administration.
Although it was routine for new administrations, the request of Mr. Wilkinson that U.S. attorneys from the Trump administration had to leave over a period of weeks, contrasted with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ claim without warning in 2017 that Obama-era officials would offer their resignations immediately.
The decision of mr. Wilkinson reflects on the transition processes of the Bush and Obama administrations, and is in line with the Biden administration’s overall strategy to restore executive standards.
U.S. attorneys, the largest federal prosecutors in the offices of the Department of Justice across the country, are typically political appointments made by presidents. When former President Donald J. Trump’s officials leave office, their offices will be filled by acting officials, mostly career prosecutors, until their replacements are confirmed, the department said in a statement Tuesday.
“We are committed to ensuring a seamless transition,” he said. Wilkinson said in the statement. “Until the confirmation of nominees by U.S. attorneys, the interim and acting leaders in U.S. law firms will ensure that the department continues its critical law enforcement process, vigorously defends the rule of law, and pursues fair and impartial administration of justice for all.”
The Justice Department said about one-third of the country’s 94 U.S. law firms were already under the supervision of acting or interim leaders, and that President Biden would later announce his nominees.
According to the person informed about it, the confirmations will follow Judge Merrick B. Garland, nominated candidate for attorney general, whose confirmation hearing is not expected to begin until February 22nd.
This week, Mr. Wilkinson also raised questions about who will lead investigations that pose political challenges for the Biden government and his hopes of restoring the image of the Department of Justice’s impartiality.
He allowed John H. Durham, who will offer his resignation as the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to stay with the department while the special counsel appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, according to a senior official of the Department of Justice.
Since the spring of 2019, Mr. Durham is investigating whether any Obama administration officials violated the law to investigate the Trump campaign’s potential ties with Russia, work that Mr. Trump predicted would end up in criminal charges against a bunch of high-ranking former officials. . While these accusations did not occur, former Attorney General William P. Barr Durham was secretly appointed to serve as special counsel last year, but all but to ensure the investigation would continue after Mr. Trump has left office.
Mr. Wilkinson also asked that David C. Weiss, the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, represented by Mr. Trump has been appointed, remains and continues to oversee the tax fraud investigation into Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, the official said.
Dozens of American lawyers sued by Mr. Trump was appointed, resigning in the weeks before and after the election, leaving 57 presidentially appointed leaders of the country’s federal prosecutors’ offices.
Mr. Wilkinson instructed everyone except Mr. Weiss, to present their resignations on Feb. 28, according to the departmental official.
Michael R. Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, will retire but remain with the Department of Justice to oversee the extensive investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on a Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, according to officials who was informed of his status. He is likely to work at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, but the timing of his shift is unclear, an official said.
The inquiry has its own political dimensions, as it focuses on the question of whether Trump’s supporters are committing crimes and the Democrats’ case for the accusation of Mr. Trump endorsed.
The investigation has already led to numerous criminal charges, including a handful of conspiracy charges. Investigators and terrorists expect it to continue to testify about far-right groups and individual extremists, many of whom have declared their allegiance to the former president.