The Donald Trump administration is planning to nominate Justin Herdman, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, as the new top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., replacing Tim Shea, who oversaw the reversal of a sentencing recommendation for Trump ally Roger Stone and the motion to dismiss charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Shea, an ex-top advisor to Attorney General William Barr, is reportedly slated to be appointed as the country’s top drug enforcement official, taking over the position of acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) administrator Uttam Dhillon.
Herdman had been serving as the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Ohio since 2017.
The move was first reported by CNN, which attributed the information to an administration official.
Shea had been tapped by Barr earlier in 2020 for the U.S. attorney’s office as an interim official. But it was considered unlikely that he would be permanent as President Trump’s nominee for the post after he served in the two politically sensitive cases.
Shea has been holding the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C., which is the largest of the nation, since February. His tenure was limited to 120 days by law. However, it could have been extended with the consent of the U.S. district court in the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department recently dropped charges against Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, Shea’s signature was the only one on the filing after career prosecutors rejected.
Michael Sherwin, a career prosecutor from Florida who previously worked as the principal assistant U.S. attorney in the D.C. office, will take over the office as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. on Tuesday, temporarily replacing Shea, before Herdman is approved by the Senate.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is a leading federal prosecutor post in the United States and known for handling politically sensitive cases.