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Trump announced on Thursday, Nov. 14 that he would nominate Jay Clayton, who has no experience as a criminal prosecutor, to be the next US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Clayton, age 58, previously served as Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission from May 2017 to December 2020, a role in which Trump wrote he "did an incredible job."
Before that, he grew up in Pennsylvania near both the Dauphin County community of Hershey and the Delaware County community of Wallingford, graduating from Strath Haven High School in 1984.
He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia and also earned an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge.
After this, Clayton went on to become a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and is also a member of the board of directors at American Express in addition to being an advisor for Israel-based cryptocurrency firm Fireblocks and One River.
During his time as SEC Chairman, he relaxed regulations, causing outcry among consumer advocates, according to Politico.
The outlet also reported that Clayton also targeted current Trump ally Elon Musk and sued his company, Tesla, for fraud over Musk's social media posts regarding funding to take the company private.
After stepping down from the position in December 2020, he rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell and also became the lead independent director on the board of Apollo Global Management.
Trump originally tried nominating Clayton as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York in June 2020 in an effort to replace Geoffrey Berman. However, Berman refused to step down until his deputy, Audrey Strauss, was allowed to take the role, according to Reuters.
The outlet also reported that Clayton had said at the time that taking the role of US Attorney was his idea and was something he had considered for months "as a possible continuation of public service" in a hearing before the House's Financial Services Committee.
If Clayton is approved for the role, he will take on several prominent cases now being overseen by Williams, including the prosecution of figures like hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs for sex trafficking and New York City Mayor Eric Adams for corruption charges.
"Jay is going to be a strong Fighter for the Truth as we, Make America Great Again," Trump wrote of Clayton's nomination on Truth Social.
The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has a history of investigating Trump's allies, including his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, whom it charged with tax evasion and campaign finance violations in 2018.
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