Trump names James M. McDonald to lead powerful New York federal prosecutor’s office

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will appoint one of his personal lawyers to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, filling a pending vacancy after Trump tapped the man currently in the job to be director of national intelligence

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will appoint one of his personal lawyers to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, filling a pending vacancy after Trump tapped the man currently in the job to be director of national intelligence.

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James M. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor in the office he had been picked to run, served as a financial regulator during Trump’s first term and worked in the White House counsel’s office in President George W. Bush’s administration.

A partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald is part of the legal team handling Trump’s pending appeal of felony convictions in New York related to hush-money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.