Scott Brady (lawyer)

Scott Brady
United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In office
December 22, 2017 – February 28, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byDavid J. Hickton
Succeeded bySteve Kaufman (acting)
Personal details
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Pennsylvania State University (JD)

Scott W. Brady is an American attorney who was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2021. Before becoming the U.S. Attorney, he was the head of litigation for Federated Investors.

Early life and education

[edit]

Brady graduated from Harvard University and the Pennsylvania State University School of Law. He clerked for Thomas Hardiman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Before law school, he worked in emergency relief and development in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.[1][2]

Career

[edit]

Brady was an Assistant United States Attorney in Pittsburgh, from 2004 to 2010, where he prosecuted white collar crime, violent crime and drug trafficking offenses. He was also an associate at Jones Day and at Reed Smith, where his practice focused on multi-district litigation, white collar criminal matters and internal investigations. Brady is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.[1][3]

The New York Times reported in December 2020 that some Justice Department colleagues saw him as a "deeply partisan leader" who had said he would never serve under a Democratic president, and had left the department upon the election of Barack Obama but returned after Trump became president. Some Pittsburgh prosecutors and agents saw Brady as a Trump loyalist who might be positioning himself to run for political office. In early 2020, attorney general Bill Barr directed Brady to scrutinize information that had been gathered in Ukraine by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, relating to Trump's opponent in the 2020 presidential campaign Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Brady met with Giuliani in Pittsburgh to discuss the materials, and the arrangement raised concerns within the FBI and DOJ about the agencies being drawn into a politicized investigation.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

On February 8, 2021, he and 55 other Trump-era attorneys were asked to resign.[10] He resigned on February 28, 2021.[11]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "President Donald J. Trump Announces Sixth Wave of United States Attorney Nominations". The White House. September 8, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017 – via National Archives.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Andrew (September 8, 2017). "Nominee announced for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Schmitt, Ben (September 9, 2017). "Trump nominates Scott Brady U.S. attorney for Western District of Pennsylvania". Trib Live. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. ^ Perez, Evan; Raju, Manu; Herb, Jeremy (February 11, 2020). "Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh vetting Giuliani's Ukraine allegations". CNN.
  5. ^ Benner, Katie; Vogel, Kenneth P. (February 10, 2020). "Justice Dept. Will Accept Material From Giuliani, but Barr Voices Caution". New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Goldman, Adam; Benner, Katie; Protess, Ben (December 11, 2020). "Material From Giuliani Spurred a Separate Justice Dept. Pursuit of Hunter Biden". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Perez, Evan; Rabinowitz, Hannah (February 22, 2024). "How a trusted FBI source became the center of a Washington scandal". CNN. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  8. ^ Kessler, Glenn (February 23, 2024). "How a Bill Barr 'assignment' led to a Biden impeachment effort based on a lie". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Kalmbacher, Colin (February 18, 2020). "DOJ May Use Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine Dirt". Law&Crime. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Balsamo, Michael (February 9, 2021). "Justice Dept. seeks resignations of Trump-era US attorneys". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "U.S. Attorney Scott Brady announces resignation" (Press release). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: United States Attorney's Office. February 26, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
[edit]