Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the appointment of Richard P. Donoghue as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 546, which provides that “the Attorney General may appoint a United States Attorney for the district in which the office of United States Attorney is vacant.” This appointment will take effect on January 5, 2018.

“When I became Attorney General, President Trump gave me clear orders to go after MS-13,” stated United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Since then, this Department of Justice has been relentless, arresting hundreds of MS-13 members from Los Angeles to Long Island. Today, I am appointing someone as Interim United States Attorney for Eastern District of New York who has tremendous experience prosecuting MS-13: Richard Donoghue. As a federal prosecutor for more than a decade—including as Criminal Chief of that office—he has been involved in the prosecution of gang members, terrorists, and corrupt public officials. Every MS-13 member in Long Island should know, Richard Donoghue will use all the tools at his disposal to get criminals off our streets.”



From 2000 to 2011, Mr. Donoghue served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York (USAO EDNY), where he held positions including Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the Long Island Criminal Division. As an AUSA, he investigated and prosecuted a wide array of cases, including MS-13 racketeering cases and other violent crime, white collar crime, public integrity offenses, and drug trafficking. While at the USAO EDNY, Mr. Donoghue received the following awards: the New York City Bar Association’s Henry L. Stimson Medal (2007 awarded annually to outstanding AUSAs), and the Eastern District Association’s Charles E. Rose Award (2009, awarded annually to outstanding AUSAs). From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Donoghue served on active duty in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, where he held positions including Military Magistrate Judge, Prosecutor, Defense Counsel and Contract Litigator, and from 1993 through 1995, Mr. Donoghue served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Mr. Donoghue has received the following military awards: a Meritorious Service Medal (awarded twice – January 2000, January 1999), an Army Commendation Medal (awarded twice – December 1996, January 1996), an Army Achievement Medal (December 1993), and a Humanitarian Service Medal (October 1997). Mr. Donoghue is currently the Chief Litigation Counsel for CA Technologies, where he oversees the company’s litigation matters worldwide. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Hofstra University and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.



Upon the appointment of Mr. Donoghue as Interim United States Attorney, Acting United States Attorney Bridget M. Rohde will resume her role as First Assistant United States Attorney.