Update, 3/29/19: Jessie K. Liu, the current United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, has withdrawn herself from consideration to be the associate attorney general of the United States, the third-highest role at the Justice Department, the Washington Post reports.
Liu’s decision comes after Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have had to approve of her nomination, opposed Liu’s former involvement with the National Association of Women Lawyers, per the Post. That group had come out in favor of abortion rights and opposed the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, though friends and former colleagues of Liu pointed out to NPR that she signed a separate letter issuing her support of Alito.
Still, Republican senators appear not to be budging. Liu will instead remain the U.S. Attorney for D.C., where she oversees more than 300 prosecutors. Additionally, on Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr appointed her as the next chairwoman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys.
“Jessie Liu, an outstanding attorney with broad experience, is widely-respected, within the Department,” Barr said in a statement. “Jessie will be an integral part of our leadership at the Department. We will all benefit from her universally-regarded expertise and dedication to public service.”
Original:
Jesse K. Liu, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, has been tapped by President Donald Trump for the third-highest position in the Justice Department.
If her nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Liu, 46, will become the associate attorney general—a slot that’s been vacant for over a year. In her wake, Liu will leave open an uniquely important role in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
WIth over 300 prosecutors, her office is the largest U.S. Attorney’s Office in the country. And unlike the other 93 offices, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia serves as both a local and a federal prosecutor.
Locally, the office prosecutes everything from misdemeanor drug possession cases to rapes and murders. Federally, it prosecutes crimes such as human trafficking, child pornography, gang activity, financial fraud, and terrorism. The office also deals with cases of national interest, including some from special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Her office, for instance, is currently prosecuting Roger Stone.
In her tenure, Liu has supported policies that federally charge Washingtonian felons who possess firearms. The White House noted in a press release that Liu “implemented the Department of Justice’s pilot initiative on sexual harassment in public housing.”
Roscoe Howard, the George W. Bush-appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia from 2001-2004, told WAMU in 2017 that Liu is a “detailed, very, very bright” attorney. “She is the sort of attorney who figures out the nuances, sees the small details,” Howard said.
Liu, a Harvard and Yale-educated attorney, worked for Trump’s transition team, and was nominated for her current role by Trump in 2017. She also worked at the Justice Department under the administration of George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009.
