Audrey Strauss

Audrey Strauss
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
In office
June 20, 2020 – October 10, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byGeoffrey Berman
Succeeded byDamian Williams
Personal details
Born (1947-10-07) October 7, 1947 (age 77)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJohn Wing
Children4
Residence(s)Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
EducationColumbia University (BA, JD)

Audrey Strauss (born October 7, 1947)[1] is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from June 20, 2020, to October 10, 2021. Previously the deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss became the acting U.S. Attorney after the previous U.S. attorney, Geoffrey Berman, was fired by President Donald Trump at the request of Attorney General William Barr.[2] On December 22, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, effective January 16, 2021, and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 546(d), unanimously appointed Strauss as U.S. Attorney for an indeterminate term.[3][4][5][6]

Early life and education

Strauss was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Russian immigrants.[7][8] She has one brother, a retired NASA doctor. Her parents died when she was young, after which she and her brother were raised by family friends.[9] She moved to New York City to attend Barnard College of Columbia University at the age of 16, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduating cum laude four years later. She then earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Kent Scholar.[10][9]

Career

After graduating from law school, she clerked for then-U.S. District Judge Lawrence Pierce. From 1976 to 1983, Strauss served as an Assistant United States Attorney at the Southern District of New York. During her time there, she served on the staff of the independent counsel investigating the Iran–Contra affair. She also successfully argued against attorney Roy Cohn in his attempt to overturn convictions of two Gambino family Mafia members.[11][12] She served as Chief of Appeals in the Criminal Division and as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit.[13]

After leaving the Southern District, she worked in private practice for 30 years, primarily as a defense attorney in white-collar cases.[9] Strauss became a litigation partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, then at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon. She later served as General Counsel of Alcoa, an industrial corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[14] She has been a guest lecturer at Brooklyn Law School, the Fordham University School of Law, and Harvard Law School, teaching courses in trial advocacy.[15] She has also served as a board member of The Innocence Project.[16]

Strauss returned to the Southern District of New York in 2018, serving as Deputy U.S. Attorney under Geoffrey Berman.[17] During her tenure as Deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss worked on cases against Michael Cohen, Chris Collins, and Rudy Giuliani associates Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas.[18]

Late in the night of June 19, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that Berman had stepped down from his position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and was being replaced by SEC chairman Jay Clayton.[19] In response, Berman released a statement saying he learned of this only from news reports and that he had not resigned and would not, claiming that, as he had been nominated by a committee of judges on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, he would not leave his position until a successor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.[20] On June 20, Barr stated that the President had fired Berman, adding, "By operation of law, the Deputy United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss, will become the Acting United States Attorney," serving until a nominee is confirmed by the Senate.[21] Berman then agreed to step down.[22][23]

On January 14, 2021, Strauss announced a $180 million fine on Toyota for violating the Clean Air Act.[24]

Personal life

Strauss is married to John "Rusty" Wing, a defense attorney. The couple have four children.[25] Strauss is a registered Democrat.[9]

Her son, Mathew Wing, was married to Melissa DeRosa, who was secretary to the governor of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo until August 2021.[26]

References

  1. ^ Jeffrey, Peter; Martin, Andrew (March 25, 2019). "Trump probes in New York become focus after Mueller report". Bloomberg News. The Everett Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Campbell, Barbara; Lucas, Ryan; Dwyer, Colin; Slotkin, Jason (June 20, 2020). "President Trump Fires Top U.S. Prosecutor Who Investigated His Allies, Barr Says". NPR.org.
  3. ^ "In the Matter of the Appointment of Audrey Strauss as United States Attorney" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2021.
  4. ^ "Office of the District Court Executive, Press Advisory" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Statement Of Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss On Court Appointment As U.S. Attorney". Archived from the original on December 28, 2020.
  6. ^ Weiser, Benjamin (December 22, 2020). "Court Extends Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Term, as Inauguration Nears". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  7. ^ Weiser, Benjamin; Hong, Nicole; Protess, Ben (June 21, 2020). "Trump Fired Her Boss. Now She's Taking Cases That Incensed White House". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "Advancing women Fostering individuality" (PDF). friedfrank.com.
  9. ^ a b c d Weiser, Benjamin; Hong, Nicole; Protess, Ben (June 21, 2020). "Trump Fired Her Boss. Now She's Taking Cases That Incensed White House". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Alcoa Names Audrey Strauss Chief Legal Officer". www.businesswire.com. April 11, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Itkowitz, Colby (June 20, 2020). "Acting New York U.S. attorney, Audrey Strauss, once defeated Roy Cohn, investigated Iran-contra". SFGate. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Balsamo, Michael; Neumeister, Larry; Press, Associated (June 20, 2020). "Manhattan top prosecutor leaves job after standoff with Barr". GreenwichTime. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  13. ^ "Senior Leadership". www.justice.gov. May 13, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  14. ^ Barber, C. Ryan (March 22, 2019). "Audrey Strauss, Long Steeped in White-Collar Enforcement, Takes Over as SDNY's No. 2". New York Law Journal. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  15. ^ Rakoff, Jed S.; Sack, Jonathan S.; Blumkin, Linda R.; Sauber, Richard A. (1993). Corporate Sentencing Guidelines: Compliance and Mitigation. Law Journal Press. ISBN 978-1-58852-058-6.
  16. ^ Dolmetsch, Chris (June 21, 2020). "The Woman Stepping in as Wall Street's Next Top Cop: Q&A". BloombergQuint. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces The Appointment Of Senior Counsel to the US Attorney". United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York. February 5, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  18. ^ Neumeister, Larry; Mustian, Jim (June 22, 2020). "Prosecutor Who Led Michael Cohen Investigation Appointed to Replace U.S. Attorney Berman". Time. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  19. ^ Campbell, Barbara; Lucas, Ryan; Dwyer, Colin; Slotkin, Jason (June 20, 2020). "President Trump Fires Top U.S. Prosecutor Who Investigated His Allies". NPR.org. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  20. ^ "Statement of US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman". Twitter. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  21. ^ "READ: AG William Barr's letter telling US Attorney Geoffrey Berman he's been fired by Trump". CNN. June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  22. ^ Helderman, Rosalind S.; Nakashima, Ellen; Zapotosky, Matt; Kim, Seung Min (June 20, 2020). "U.S. attorney who was investigating people close to Trump now says he will step down, ending standoff with attorney general". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  23. ^ Moreno, J. Edward (June 20, 2020). "Berman to leave SDNY immediately". TheHill. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  24. ^ Tabuchi, Hiroko (January 14, 2021). "Toyota to Pay a Record Fine for a Decade of Clean Air Act Violations". The New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  25. ^ "Important Class Positions Filled". yale60.org. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  26. ^ "Melissa DeRosa, Matthew Wing". The New York Times. August 28, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
Legal offices
Preceded by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
2020–2021 		Succeeded by