Washington — It was not yet 4 o'clock in the morning in Washington on Wednesday when President Trump, an ocean away at the G7 summit in France, issued a demand for Republican senators: James "Jamie" McDonald, his pick for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, "must be confirmed" immediately.
"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," the president said on his Truth Social platform .
McDonald is Mr. Trump's choice to helm one of the nation's most prestigious federal prosecutors' offices — known for its independence and tough enforcement of Wall Street malfeasance and other white-collar crimes. And he would succeed Jay Clayton, who has been tapped by the president to become the next director of national intelligence.
Though little-known outside the power corridors of Washington and Manhattan, McDonald has been a notable force during Mr. Trump's second term. At Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the world's largest law firms, where Clayton also once worked as a partner, McDonald has played a central role in persuading the Justice Department to drop or settle a string of high-profile cases for the firm's corporate clients, according to court records and sources familiar with the matter.
Now, questions about his ability to maintain prosecutorial independence could play a central role in any confirmation review, Democratic Senate sources told CBS News, as Mr. Trump has sought to expedite his nomination.
Sullivan & Cromwell, where McDonald has worked since 2021, has emerged as a firm known for its close relationships with the White House during Mr. Trump's second term.
Law firms have long sought to make use of close relationships at the Justice Department to assist their clients, which many lawyers consider zealous advocacy. But there are growing questions among senior lawyers at other big law firms and career prosecutors about whether Sullivan & Cromwell's clients "are getting favorable treatment at the Justice Department — not because the facts of the law compel it," but because some of the firm's senior partners are aligned with the president, as one former Justice Department official who worked in a Democratic administration put it.
"Sullivan & Cromwell understands the D.C. game and knows that staying close to the president is the best way to navigate the current environment," another former Justice Department official who worked in the second Trump administration told CBS News.
On Saturday, the president said in a social media post that he is confident McDonald — a former federal prosecutor and regulator — "will deliver strong results for our Country."
The future of both Clayton and McDonald's nominations is in flux after the president directed Clayton not to appear for a planned confirmation hearing on Wednesday, upending Senate Republicans' plans to quickly install Clayton and resolve a standoff with Democrats.
Sullivan & Cromwell has more than a dozen offices across the globe and is headquartered in Manhattan. Its managing partner, Robert Giuffra, was at one point considered a contender to be Mr. Trump's attorney general during his second term, sources familiar with the transition said.
"Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the great institutions in our city," John Catsimatidis, a Manhattan billionaire who is friends with Mr. Trump, told CBS News.
Both McDonald and Giuffra represented Mr. Trump in past private matters. The firm is representing the president in his appeal of his criminal conviction for hiding a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as well as Mr. Trump's appeal in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
And when Mr. Trump issued an executive order against the powerful law firm Paul, Weiss that could have crippled its access to the government, it was Giuffra who helped broker a deal between a business rival and the White House to drop the directive in exchange for the firm pledging $40 million in pro bono services. He did so alongside Boris Epshteyn, Mr. Trump's personal attorney who has coordinated his legal defense strategy.
McDonald joined Sullivan & Cromwell after serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until 2017 and then as director of enforcement for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an agency that regulates commodity and derivatives markets and pursues civil enforcement actions for violations.
Chris Giancarlo, who headed the CFTC during Mr. Trump's first term, said he hired McDonald because he wanted someone who would be tough on enforcement. Giancarlo said he liked McDonald's background as a prosecutor who pursued public corruption and organized crime cases.
"He is strong, but fair," Giancarlo told CBS News. "He doesn't wear politics on his sleeve. To the extent people are concerned about political motivations, there is none of that with Jamie…
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