Richard Donoghue to Replace Former Brooklyn Colleague at Main Justice
Crowell & Moring partner Kelly Currie, who served as chief assistant U.S. attorney and acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District before moving to private practice in 2016, said Donoghue is well-suited for the role in Washington.
July 06, 2020 at 07:08 PM
3 minute read
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 Richard Donoghue, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, speaks during a news conference in Brooklyn, New York.
As Richard Donoghue enters his final days as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, no successor has been announced, a spokesman for the office confirmed late Monday.
At 12:01 a.m. July 13, Donoghue is set to start his new job as principal associate deputy attorney general, or PADAG, in the Department of Justice.
In that role, he will replace Seth DuCharme as the top deputy to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.
DuCharme, whose name has been floated as a possible successor for Donoghue, was chief of the Eastern District's criminal division until he moved to Washington, D.C., to join U.S. Attorney General William Barr's staff in early 2019.
Crowell & Moring partner Kelly Currie, who served as chief assistant U.S. attorney and acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District before moving to private practice in 2016, said Donoghue is well-suited for the role in Washington.
"He … spent much of his career as a prosecutor, you know, [he's] seen virtually every kind of case the department brings," Currie said. "So putting him in the PADAG position, especially at this time, I think would be helpful and valuable for everybody in the department."
Donoghue, a U.S. Army veteran, joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2000 and held positions including chief of the criminal division and chief of the Long Island criminal division.
Before he was appointed U.S. attorney by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2018, he was chief litigation counsel for CA Technologies.
In February, leaders in the Justice Department assigned Donoghue to coordinate investigations and other matters related to Ukraine, The Associated Press reported. The news came shortly after President Donald Trump's impeachment hearing on charges related to coordinating with Ukraine.
Assistant U.S. attorneys working under Donoghue have also pursued bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges against the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, won a guilty verdict against the Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera and obtained guilty pleas from several key figures in the so-called "sex cult" NXIVM.
They also won a case against former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and one of his top deputies, who were both convicted of concealing police brutality in December. More recently, prosecutors in the office have pursued charges of arson and arson conspiracy against a pair of attorneys accused of firebombing an empty New York City Police Department vehicle during New York City's ongoing protests against police brutality.
The July 3 announcement of Donoghue's departure came just two weeks after the top prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, was fired by Trump in a dramatic manner. Audrey Strauss, who was Berman's top deputy, is now acting U.S. attorney in the district.
Donoghue's first assistant is Mark Lesko.
READ MORE:
US Attorney Richard Donoghue to Leave Eastern District of New York for Role at Main Justice
Geoffrey Berman Resigns as Manhattan US Attorney, Ending Standoff With William Barr
Audrey Strauss Takes Over as Manhattan US Attorney Following Berman's Dramatic Ouster
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