President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Jay Clayton, the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, overseeing the state's Department of Justice branch. Clayton, who advised multiple crypto firms after leaving the SEC in December 2020, previously oversaw the production of the SEC's DAO Report, which asserted the agency's jurisdiction over a significant portion of the crypto industry. He also famously stated that he believed most initial coin offerings were securities, a view later shared by his successor, current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
Trump praised Clayton, saying, '[He] is a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant.' One of Clayton's final actions at the SEC was to sign off on the lawsuit against Ripple Labs, which is currently making its way through the federal appellate court system after a judge ruled that the company had not violated federal securities laws. Clayton is currently a senior policy advisor at the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, in addition to his various advisory roles. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under the current U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, the SDNY branch of the DOJ has prosecuted several high-profile cases, including the trial against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, which resulted in his conviction and 25-year sentence on seven different fraud and conspiracy charges. Trump had previously attempted to nominate Clayton to the office, to replace then-U.S.
Attorney Geoffrey Berman. In the week since his reelection, the former and now future president has announced several intended nominations, including Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. to the Department of Health and Human Services, Representative Matt Gaetz to be the U.S. Attorney General, Senator Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State, and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence.
Additionally, he has named Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as co-heads of a proposed Department of Government Efficiency, which would require congressional approval to become an actual department.