On Thursday, Richard Donoghue, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, told his staff that he would resign to move to Washington as the deputy chief attorney general for the Justice Department, a powerful position that acts as guardian of investigations. Across the country, an office spokesman, John Marzulli, told CNN.
The most recent deputy chief deputy department director, Seth DuCharme, is now being considered by the department leadership for the senior position in the Brooklyn office, where he had spent his career as a prosecutor.
The job change discussion comes as Barr has been outraged at his handling of politically significant cases, which escalated last month when he forced the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, after the two faced due to sensitive prosecutions. to the White House. The change in the neighboring Brooklyn district, however, involves two men who are said to be the attorney general’s favorites and who will remain in high office within the department.
The Brooklyn post wields significant influence under its jurisdiction and has recently investigated people close to President Donald Trump, including Tom Barrack, who chaired the President’s inaugural committee. Barrack was interviewed last year and, according to his spokesman, prosecutors were told he had no further questions for him. Barrack has not been charged with any crime.
In February, the Justice Department turned to Donoghue to oversee all agency investigations related to Ukraine in a move that gave Washington officials more oversight over an area of interest that had become a political minefield.
It is unclear whether authority over Ukraine’s investigations will remain within the Brooklyn federal prosecutor’s office if Donoghue were to move out of the post.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment for this story.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been investigating the actions of the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including his efforts to remove Marie Yovanovitch, then the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and press for the investigation of Hunter Biden, son of the former vice president Joe Biden. , who had done business in the country. Berman’s handling of the case and the way he kept Barr within easy reach as he advanced had fueled mistrust among the men before his firing last month, CNN reported.
Barr has said the reason Berman was removed was to make room for Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who had asked about the job.
DuCharme served as Barr’s adviser for national security and criminal matters before being promoted to the top position in the deputy attorney general’s office last year. Before his time in Washington, DuCharme was a career prosecutor in the Brooklyn office, where he later headed the criminal division.
The mechanics behind the exchange remain unclear and could be complicated by federal vacancy law, as evidenced by last month’s chaotic transition at the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. According to office protocols, Donoghue’s deputy, first assistant to US Attorney Mark Lesko, would succeed him.
Both Berman and Donoghue initially assumed their posts on an interim basis after an appointment by the attorney general, and their duties were made permanent by federal judges in their district.
In Manhattan, Berman had initially refused to leave after Barr publicly said he would “resign” and appointed another senior prosecutor outside the district to temporarily replace him. Berman was eventually fired by the President, but his role was played as an actor by his deputy, rather than Barr’s chosen successor.
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