Jessie K. Liu Takes Office as United States Attorney

            WASHINGTON – Jessie K. Liu has taken office as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. She succeeds Channing D. Phillips, who had been serving in the position since Oct. 19, 2015.

            President Trump nominated Ms. Liu on June 12, 2017 to serve as U.S. Attorney, and the Senate confirmed the nomination on Sept. 14, 2017. She was sworn in by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. She formally took office at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24.   

            Ms. Liu, 44, had been Deputy General Counsel for the United States Department of the Treasury. She previously was a partner at the law firms of Morrison & Foerster LLP and Jenner & Block LLP, where her practice focused on litigation, investigations, and compliance.

            In addition to her work in private practice, U.S. Attorney Liu has extensive experience with the Department of Justice. From 2002 until 2006, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, handling criminal and appellate cases. She then moved to the Department of Justice, where she served in a series of positions until 2009, including Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Security Division, Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division.

            “I am honored to return to the United States Attorney’s Office and looking forward to working with the people here, our many law enforcement partners, and the community,” said U.S. Attorney Liu.

            U.S. Attorney Liu graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1995 and obtained her juris doctorate from Yale Law School in 1998.

            Because of its size and varied responsibilities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is unique among the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the nation. It is the largest of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, with more than 300 attorneys and a similar number of support employees. The Office is responsible for the prosecution of all federal crimes, including terrorism, public corruption, firearms, and other offenses, as well as the prosecution of all serious local crime committed by adults in the District of Columbia. The Office also represents the United States and its departments and agencies in civil proceedings filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.

            As she took on her new responsibilities, U.S. Attorney Liu thanked Mr. Phillips for his many years of public service with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice.