(Reuters) – US Attorney John Lausch said he will leave his position as the top federal prosecutor in Chicago on March 11, leaving open a post that was last filled by former President Donald Trump in 2017.
Lausch’s lieutenant, First Assistant US Attorney Morris (Sonny) Pasqual, will serve as the US attorney on an acting basis until a replacement is nominated by President Joe Biden and approved by the US Senate.
A spokesperson for the Chicago US Attorney’s Office said Lausch has not made any public statements regarding his future plans.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland in January said Lausch declined to accept a long-term special counsel role investigating whether Biden improperly handled sensitive government documents because he would be leaving for the private sector.
Trump, a Republican, nominated Lausch for the US attorney post during his first year in office. Lausch was kept in the role by the Democratic Biden administration at the best of Illinois’ US senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, even as Biden terminated the appointments of other Trump-era US attorneys.
Latest Updates
View 2 more stories
Past Chicago US attorneys have received plum jobs upon re-entering the private sector. Patrick Fitzgerald, who served from 2001 to 2012, was a litigation partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Zachary Fardon, Lausch’s immediate predecessor, leads King & Spalding’s government matters practice and its Chicago office.
Read more:
Chicago US attorney Lausch to step down in ‘early 2023,’ Garland says
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
