Diddy Prosecutor To Resign Before Trump Returns To the White House
Source: Variety / Getty
Federal prosecutor Damien Williams, who was behind the Diddy sex trafficking case, has announced his resignation, CBS News reports.
Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District on New York, will leave his post on Dec. 13.
“Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I announce my resignation as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Williams said at a press conference Monday. “It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world.”
He added, “It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level – upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence. It has been an honor to serve the American people.”
The 44-year-old has not announced his future plans.
Williams became the first Black U.S. Attorney for the Southern District when he was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021. Since then, he’s prosecuted high-profile cases against former New Jersey senator Bob Menendez, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Diddy, and Eric Adams.
Edward Kim, the Deputy U.S. Attorney, will take Williams’s place in the interim. When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, he will appoint Jay Clayton to the office. Clayton, 58, was the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the previous Trump administration.
Clayton would become one of the most powerful federal attorneys in the count, and he would be instrumental in prosecuting financial crimes despite his previous affiliation with the SEC. There is speculation that Trump wants Clayton to go after his enemies, who would presumably include New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg was able to convict Trump on 34 counts after he paid hush money to former porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Sentencing in that case has been “postponed indefinitely.”Â
Both DAs are elected to their positions, not appointed.
In February, James won a judgment against Trump and two of his sons in a fraud case, providing that he’d inflated the worth of his businesses to secure other deals. The judgment now stands at $464M due to interest.
“I congratulate the president-elect, Donald Trump,” James said at a press conference after his election. “And if possible, we will work with his administration. But we will not compromise our values or our integrity or our principles.”
But James said she is ready to push back against any of Trump’s attempts to enact any portion of Project 2025 or to enact any revenge that would impact the city of New York.
“We’ve created contingency plans, so no matter what the next administration throws at us, we’re ready, ” she said. “We’re ready to respond to their attacks. We’re ready to respond to any attempts to cut or eliminate any funding to the great state of New York.”
James added, “We will continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, or retribution.”
