Trump urges Senate to confirm Jamie McDonald as U.S. attorney for Southern District of New York

Washington — President Trump, speaking from the G7 summit in France early Wednesday, called on Republican senators to confirm his nominee, James "Jamie" McDonald, as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York without delay.

"I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don't want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

McDonald would replace Clayton, whom Trump has selected to become director of national intelligence. The Southern District of New York is known for its independence and its record of pursuing white-collar crime.

McDonald, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell since 2021, has helped the firm persuade the Justice Department to drop or settle several high-profile cases involving corporate clients, according to court records and people familiar with the matters. Sullivan & Cromwell has drawn scrutiny over its close ties to the White House during Trump's second term.

Democratic Senate sources told CBS News that questions about McDonald's ability to maintain prosecutorial independence are likely to arise during any confirmation process.

The firm has more than a dozen offices worldwide and is based in Manhattan. Its managing partner, Robert Giuffra, was once considered for attorney general in the current administration. Both McDonald and Giuffra have represented Trump in private legal matters, and the firm is handling his appeals in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case and a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

McDonald previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York until 2017 and later as director of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Chris Giancarlo, who led the CFTC in Trump's first term, said he hired McDonald for his record prosecuting public corruption and organized crime cases.

"He is strong, but fair," Giancarlo told CBS News. "He doesn't wear politics on his sleeve."

In May, the Justice Department moved to dismiss criminal fraud and foreign bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after meetings that included McDonald and Giuffra. One slide presented by Giuffra at the Justice Department said Adani's company was "powering India's progress" and that the Trump administration "would not have brought the case." Giuffra also said Adani would invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy if the charges were dropped, sources said.

Adani later agreed to pay $18 million to settle a parallel civil fraud case with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Treasury Department reached a $275 million settlement with an Adani subsidiary over apparent violations of sanctions against Iran.

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut have opened an investigation into the dismissal. Warren said she has "serious concerns about a Trump loyalist who played a key role in the Adani dismissal serving in a critical U.S. Attorney role."

A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson said the firm's partners "have devoted their careers to and built their reputations on being exceptionally effective advocates for our clients, without regard to the administration in Washington."

McDonald also represented Southern Coal, a company run by the son of Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia, in a non-public criminal investigation that the Justice Department later closed. The probe concerned water testing under a consent decree. A Justice Department official said the case was "politically motivated" and should have been handled civilly.

While at Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald also represented Live Nation in settling an antitrust case involving Ticketmaster. State attorneys general were excluded from settlement talks held at the firm's Manhattan offices, and all but a few states rejected the deal. A federal jury later found Live Nation liable for operating an illegal monopoly.

A Justice Department official said the department "often meets with outside counsel to discuss pending cases and potential resolutions to assure the best possible outcome for the American people."