Former terrorism prosecutor tapped for high-ranking slot at Manhattan US Attorney's office
NEW YORK — A former terrorism prosecutor has been picked for the No. 2 post at the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office, according to two people familiar with the matter. There, he will occupy a role that is expected to be especially influential because the head of the office has no prosecutorial experience.
Sean Buckley's nine years at the office include a role as co-chief of the terrorism and international narcotics unit and winning the conviction of a Saudi who was a high-ranking lieutenant to Osama bin Laden. Now he'll become the office's deputy U.S. attorney, these people said.
A spokesperson for the office declined to comment.
Buckley, a partner at law firm Kobre & Kim, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his new job, Buckley will work for Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney, who has years of legal and regulatory experience, but none in criminal law. Clayton's gap is unusual for any U.S. attorney, but particularly for one leading arguably the most important federal prosecutorial office in the country — one that oversees Wall Street and regularly prosecutes some of the biggest securities, terrorism and public corruption cases.
Buckley will return to an office that is still struggling to stabilize in the wake of the Justice Department's decision to drop one of the office's most prominent prosecutions: the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
After Justice Department officials ordered the office to dismiss the corruption case against the Democratic mayor, the acting U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, refused to do so, calling the department's rationale improper. Sassoon resigned rather than follow the order, as did several other prosecutors in New York and Washington.
Fallout from that episode has continued in recent weeks. Last month, three other Adams prosecutors resigned after accusing the Justice Department of trying to force them to admit wrongdoing in connection with their resistance to dropping the charges.
But public corruption prosecutions like the Adams case may not be a priority for the office moving forward, because Justice Department officials have highlighted other areas of focus, including the prosecution of transnational corporations, immigration enforcement and terrorism cases.
Those are areas that Buckley — and the recently appointed criminal chief of the office, Amanda Houle — may be well suited to prioritize, since both are alumni of the office's terrorism unit.
Carrie Cohen, a former prosecutor in the office, said Buckley's reputation and experience would be particularly helpful to the office in the wake of the Adams conflict.
Buckley, she said, 'was well respected in the office and well respected as a defense counsel.'
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