Donald Trump Gives Prominent Role To Former SEC Chair

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Jay Clayton, former Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), would be appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), leading the Department of Justice (DoJ) for the state.

Since stepping down as the SEC Chair in December 2020, Clayton has worked as an advisor to several cryptocurrency companies. He was involved in the 2017 SEC DAO Report, which claimed broad regulatory authority over the crypto industry, and is known for asserting that many initial coin offerings (ICOs) should be classified as securities, a stance also adopted by his successor, current SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

A Sensible Choice

Trump praised Clayton as a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant. Jay was also responsible for authorizing the lawsuit against Ripple Labs, which is still ongoing in federal appellate courts. A judge ruled last year that the sale of XRP tokens to retail investors did not violate securities laws. Clayton is now a senior policy advisor at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and continues to hold various advisory roles.

Under current U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, the SDNY has handled several high-profile cases, including the prosecution of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted and sentenced to 25 years for fraud and conspiracy charges. Trump had previously nominated Clayton for the SDNY position to replace Geoffrey Berman as U.S. Attorney.

In With The New

In the week following his re-election, Trump has announced several other potential appointments, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Representative Matt Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General, Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.

Additionally, Trump proposed creating a new Department of Government Efficiency, with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as co-heads, though this would require Congressional approval to become an official department.