Prosecutor of SBF named interim head of Manhattan US attorney’s office

One of the stars of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial has a new gig.

On Monday afternoon, US President Donald Trump named Danielle Sassoon the interim head of the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan and part of southern New York state.

Sassoon was previously one of the lead prosecutors in the federal government’s case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former CEO of FTX.

The former crypto tycoon was convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Bankman-Fried has appealed his conviction.

Sassoon questioned some of the government’s star witnesses, including Caroline Ellison, the former co-CEO of the FTX-linked crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.

Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison in September for her role in the crash.

Sassoon will lead the Southern District until Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick for US Attorney, passes the confirmation process.

A spokesperson for Southern District confirmed to DL News that Sassoon is now the interim US Attorney.

Sassoon did not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Conservative star

Sassoon has a star-studded resume.

She went to Harvard as an undergraduate, Yale for law school, and clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court judge who died in 2016.

After a stint at a private law firm, she moved over to the Southern District.

During her tenure, she not only helped lead the prosecution of Bankman-Fried but also his lieutenants, including Ryan Salame, who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

She is one of six prosecutors assigned to the US’s case against Do Kwon, the founder of the collapsed stablecoin TerraUSD.

Unlike her former boss Damian Williams, a Democrat and the last head of the Southern District, Sassoon is a noted conservative.

Justice Scalia was one of the most right-leaning justices in the Supreme Court during his tenure.

And Sassoon has a bio on the website for The Federalist Society, a conservative legal organisation.

Update, Jan. 22, 2024: This article has been updated with confirmation from the Southern District that Sassoon is now interim US Attorney.

Correction, Jan. 22, 2024: Sassoon assumed the role of US Attorney on Monday, not Tuesday.

Ben Weiss is DL News’ Dubai Correspondent. Got a tip? Email at bweiss@dlnews.com.