BREAKING: Trump nominates former SEC chair Jay Clayton to serve as US attorney for the Southern District of NY

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is nominating Jay Clayton for the US attorney for the Southern District of New York. Trump noted that Clayton served as the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during his first term, “where he did an incredible job.”

Trump described Clayton as “a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant” who “received Engineering and Law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge.

Before his stint at the SEC, Clayton was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, and served on the management committee. He is a senior policy advisor to Sullivan & Cromwell, serves on the boards of several public and private companies, and an adjunct professor at the Wharton Business School, and the Carey Law School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Jay is going to be a strong fighter for the truth as we, Make America Great Again,” Trump said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Clayton would be in charge one of the most powerful federal prosecutor offices in America. It's the same office that prosecuted Michael Cohen, who formerly worked for Trump but is today one of the president-elect's most severe critics. It is also the office that originally investigated but did not charge Trump over hush money allegations that eventually brought a conviction in a highly criticized New York state trial.

In an interview just prior to Trump winning a huge victory in the presidential election, Clayton said, “The Trump voter is a different voter today than the Republican voter of 20 years ago. In fact, the Trump voter of today was a Democratic voter 20 years ago.”