STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch expected to leave the post to become U.S. attorney general, changes could be coming to the case against Rep. Michael Grimm.

Rep. Michael Grimm won re-election on Tuesday and faces a trial in February on 20 counts related to his former business. (AP file photo)

CNN first reported Friday morning that President Barack Obama was expected to announce the appointment of Ms. Lynch, currently the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in coming days.

This comes about a month and a half after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation in September.

Ms. Lynch, the U.S attorney in Brooklyn, announced the 20-count federal indictment against Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) in April and it has been under her watch that the government is prosecuting him for wire and mail fraud, filing false tax returns, hiring undocumented immigrants and perjury.

Grimm won re-election against Democrat Domenic M. Recchia Jr. on Tuesday and his trial is expected to begin in February.

But his attorney, Palm Beach-based lawyer Stuart N. Kaplan, said with Lynch leaving, the trial could possibly take another route.

He said he is "disturbed and quite concerned" that Ms. Lynch is leaving her post because it means she has been having conversations about it for a while and in doing so, being a political player, which he said presents a conflict of interest.

If Grimm wasn't a congressman "this case certainly wouldn't have gotten to the point where it's at," and might have been settled before trial, Kaplan said.

He said the case against the congressman has "more to do with politics" that it does Grimm being "a tax cheat."

Kaplan is hoping a new prosecutor may be interested in discussing avoiding a trial, something he said Ms. Lynch opposed.

The lawyer said it's unsettling that people with political aspirations have been involved in the case. First Todd Kaminsky, a former assistant U.S. attorney, was part of the investigation that led to Grimm's indictment.

The Democrat left to run for Assembly on Long Island. He won the seat on Tuesday.

Now, Ms. Lynch is leaving to serve in a political role in the cabinet of a Democratic president and Kaplan said it would be nice to have a new U.S. attorney to look at the case with a fresh perspective and be "someone without political aspirations."

A spokesperson for Ms. Lynch did not return a request for comment.

Kaplan represented Texan Diana Durand, who pleaded guilty in September to illegally contributing more than $10,000 to Grimm's 2010 campaign and another House candidate running that year.

Kaplan said he didn't believe representing both Grimm and Ms. Durand posed a conflict of interest.

Lynch would be the first black woman to hold the post. She would be the second black person to serve in the post, after Holder, and the second woman to serve, after Janet Reno.