to handle U.S. litigation, but in about 3 or 4 months into the job, the general counsel asked me to take over worldwide litigation. We were in 45 countries. We had litigation all over the world. So I spent the vast majority of my time working on litigation matters, but I also did other things, M&A work, help with compliance, and various things like that across the company.
Q At some point, did you return to the Justice Department?
A I did. In January of 2018, I got to return to my old office to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Q And tell us a little bit about the process by which you got that job. How were you appointed U.S. attorney?
A I was actually appointed by the Attorney General. There were a number of us—I think 17 or 18—appointed on the same day in early January. The way that works is you are appointed by the Attorney General for a 120-day term. At the end of that term, either you leave or the court continues you as U.S. attorney or potentially you are nominated and confirmed by the Senate in that time.
Given the political situation in New York and the fact that we had no Republican Senators in New York and Senators typically play a key role in selecting U.S. attorneys, there was no expectation that we would be nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
So the U.S. attorneys in New York, New Jersey, and other places all came in through this mechanism whereby the Attorney General appointed us, and I think the expectation was that, because we were known to the court and trusted by the court, that the judges would continue us in office, and that's what happened in my case. So I continued as the U.S. attorney until I moved to Washington in July of 2020.
Q I see. So initially appointed by the AG, and then that appointment was 25 maintained by the judges in the Eastern District, never Senate—never nominated and
