New Boss Coming to Head NY's Tammany Hall II Corruption

U.S. Attorney in Manhattan May Leave for Private Sector
The New York Times By BENJAMIN WEISER - November 8, 2008

Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney in Manhattan who oversaw a series of high-profile corruption cases, including one that led to the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, has decided to leave his post early and will join a private law firm, lawyers familiar with his plans say.His departure could be announced as early as next week.

Mr. Garcia, 47, who has been in his post for three years, is expected to be succeeded, at least temporarily, by his deputy, Lev L. Dassin, a veteran prosecutor. Mr. Garcia said this week that he would not seek charges against Mr. Spitzer for patronizing a prostitution ring. Beyond that case, he prosecuted several state politicians and city officials; former Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik; and the Democratic political fund-raiser Norman Hsu. Most of those cases are still pending, with the defendants pleading not guilty. The Manhattan office, one of the largest federal attorney’s offices, has handled some of the most important terrorism and securities fraud prosecutions. Just last month, Mr. Garcia joined with the New York State attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, in an inquiry into credit-default swaps, the unregulated financial instruments at the center of the current meltdown.

Mr. Garcia will become a partner with Kirkland & Ellis, an international law firm. Before becoming United States attorney in 2005, he served as assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security. He had worked earlier as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, on such cases as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; a foiled plot to blow up jets over the Pacific Ocean; and the 1998 American Embassy bombings in East Africa. Mr. Dassin, 43, ran the office’s criminal division under Mr. Garcia, and later became his deputy. He previously worked at the law firm Kaye Scholer. As an assistant United States attorney in the 1990s, he also prosecuted major terrorism and white-collar cases. President-elect Barack Obama has not yet signaled whom he might choose as United States attorney, but among early names being heard among lawyers and others are Mr. Dassin and two other alumni of the office: Preet Bharara, chief counsel to Senator Charles E. Schumer; and Mark F. Pomerantz, a partner at the Manhattan law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.