Here’s who just took over the New York State investigation into Donald Trump
On Monday, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned on serious allegations of abuse of at least four women. On Tuesday, Amy Spitalnick, Press Secretary for the Office of Attorney General, tweeted the announcement that Barbara Underwood would be the Acting Attorney General for New York.
Underwood is a former law clerk for former Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the United States and clerked for then-Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and has argued twenty cases before the Supreme Court. Spitalnick tweeted:
“This morning, I’m grateful to work with the best colleagues in the business – including Barbara Underwood, who will be acting NY AG. She’s argued 20 cases before SCOTUS, clerked for Thurgood Marshall & much more. The work continues.”
Underwood immediately previously served as the Solicitor General of New York, a position she has held since 2007, when New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo appointed her. Schneiderman reappointed her in 2011.
Underwood was a law professor for a decade at the Yale Law School, then moved to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. She later worked as the Chief Assistant United States Attorney in New York and was also Counsel to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. In 1998, she became the Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the United States. She served as Acting Solicitor General for the first half of 2001, the first woman to serve as Solicitor General.
She is well admired and is a lifelong prosecutor as her brief biography indicates. As Spitalnick noted, the work will continue. Justice will continue to be meted out by the Attorney General of New York, and the office is in good hands with Underwood in charge.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.