Jay Clayton, President Trump\u2019s choice to be the next director of national intelligence, has spent the past 14 months as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and served as Wall Street\u2019s top enforcer during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
Here is what to know about Mr. Clayton\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
What did Mr. Clayton do before becoming U.S. attorney?<\/p>\n
Mr. Clayton has moved between private law practice and government service. He was a partner at the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell when Mr. Trump chose him for the U.S. attorney post.<\/p>\n
Mr. Clayton\u2019s time as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> in the president\u2019s first term was marked by a generally pro-business approach, though his office brought some of the first enforcement actions involving crypto assets. The office brought an action against Elon Musk<\/a> over his use of what was then known as Twitter, which Mr. Musk later bought and rebranded as X.<\/p>\n What have been the most important cases in the Manhattan U.S. attorney\u2019s office during Mr. Clayton\u2019s tenure?<\/p>\n The Southern District has long been known for pursuing cases that reach beyond U.S. borders and involve national security. The office is currently prosecuting Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, the former president of Venezuela, who was captured by U.S. military forces in January and brought to Manhattan to face a cocaine importation conspiracy charge and other counts. Mr. Maduro has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n And last month, Mr. Clayton announced charges against the commander of an Iran-backed militia<\/a> for allegedly plotting to attack Jewish sites in the United States, including a synagogue in New York City, and for orchestrating attacks in Europe related to Iran\u2019s campaign of retaliation against the United States and Israel for the war that began in February.<\/p>\n The Southern District is also handling the federal case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare\u2019s chief executive in 2024. (Mr. Clayton is recused from the Mangione case, which is being overseen by his deputy.)<\/p>\n Other prominent Southern District prosecutions during Mr. Clayton\u2019s tenure have included the trial and conviction of three brothers, including two who were among the country\u2019s most prominent real estate brokers<\/a>, for engaging in a yearslong conspiracy to traffic women and girls for sex. In another case, the office has charged 19 people, accusing them of running a year-round drug market in New York City\u2019s Washington Square Park<\/a>, in which millions of doses of fentanyl, heroin and crack were distributed.<\/p>\n The office also oversaw much of the document review<\/a>, mandated by Congress, related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was being prosecuted by the Southern District in 2019 when he was found hanged in a jail cell, a death that was ruled a suicide.<\/p>\n Why was Jay Clayton not confirmed by the Senate for the U.S. attorney\u2019s position he held?<\/p>\n Shortly after his election in 2024, Mr. Trump said he would name Mr. Clayton to the Southern District post, and he nominated him on his first day back in office. But in April 2025, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, blocked Mr. Clayton\u2019s confirmation<\/a>, using a prerogative given to home-state senators.<\/p>\n At the time, Mr. Schumer said Mr. Trump had \u201cmade clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies.\u201d Mr. Schumer\u2019s action came after weeks of criticism from some liberal Democrats, who said he was doing too little to resist the president.<\/p>\n