Seth DuCharme sworn in as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District

With Richard Donoghue set to become the top deputy to Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his replacement, Seth DuCharme, was officially sworn in on Friday as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District.

DuCharme was sworn in during a ceremony by Chief Judge Roslynn Mauskopf.

“I am deeply honored to return to my home in the Eastern District of New York to serve as the acting United States attorney,” DuCharme said. “Applying all of my experience over the many years living here and working alongside some of the most outstanding people in the Department of Justice, I am firmly committed to serving our community and our country to the highest standards and in the finest tradition of this office. I wish my predecessor, Rich Donoghue, great success as he heads to Washington, D.C., to help lead the department.”

DuCharme most recently served in Main Justice as the principal associate deputy attorney general and served as a counselor to Attorney General William Barr from March 2019 to December 2019 prior to that appointment.

Working closely with Barr, DuCharme supervised and coordinated the work of various departments, including all 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices on issues regarding fraud, opioid trafficking, transnational organized crime, international terrorism and other national security issues.

DuCharme has a background in the Eastern District prior to his work at Main Justice as he previously served as the chief of the criminal division in the EDNY where he supervised prosecutions and investigations including terrorism, cybercrime, public corruption and civil rights violations among and other crimes.

He first joined the EDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office in March 2008. There, he worked in the general crimes, violent crimes and terrorism, and national security and cybercrime sections. He was also the EDNY’s national security cyber specialist and representative on the anti-terrorism advisory council.

DuCharme graduated from Hamilton College in 1992 and from Fordham University School of Law before he went to work as a U.S. marshal in Brooklyn from 1996 to 2000.

“Seth has served the department with distinction during his time at Main Justice,” stated Attorney General Barr. “He is a talented and experienced prosecutor who manages with a steady hand. His experience in prosecuting violent crime, terrorism and public corruption will serve him well in his return to New York to lead the office. The deputy attorney general and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

As U.S. attorney, DuCharme normally would be appointed by the president and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate. However, under the Trump administration, many U.S. attorneys have not been able to pass through the confirmation process. The previous U.S. attorney served for 120 days as the interim U.S. attorney and only became the permanent U.S. attorney after the judges of the court voted to appoint him as permanent U.S. Attorney using the Vacancies Reform Act.