He’s taken down Ghislaine Maxwell, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and FTX crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried. He aims to put Sean “Diddy” Combs behind bars for a long time. And on Sept. 26, Damian Williams, the powerful U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, unleashed his biggest case yet, bringing an indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Williams, 44, has made a huge mark in his three years as the top federal law enforcement agent covering Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester and a swath of upstate counties. He’s the first Black person to hold the top job in the office that was established in 1789. For sure, bringing corruption charges against the sitting mayor of New York City is a first even in the long, colorful history of politics in Gotham.
The SDNY’s outsize influence as the federal watchdog for Wall Street and the rest of the city that never sleeps was highlighted in the Showtime series “Billions,” in which Paul Giamatti played the crusading SDNY chief Chuck Rhoades. Unlike Rhoades, a vituperative colossus, however, Williams brings a steely determination and a Joe Friday, just-the-facts mien to his lawyering in the court of public opinion.
“Anyone who engages in sex trafficking, no matter how powerful, wealthy or famous you may be … you will face justice,” Williams said at his Sept. 17 news conference outlining the racketeering and sex trafficking charges against Combs, the music and hip-hop lifestyle mogul.
In revealing the charges against Adams, Williams emphasized that the mayor’s alleged corruption stretches back before his election in 2021. As with his discussion of the Combs charges, Williams didn’t add any fire and brimstone to his delivery. He came across as determined and unflappable, and he let the facts speak for themselves.
“As our highest elected official, the mayor should set the standard for all of city government and exemplify the integrity, transparency and dedication to serving the public that all New Yorkers deserve,” Williams told the media on Sept. 26. “Instead, the indictment unsealed today alleges that Mayor Adams abused his power and position for nearly a decade.”
On Williams’ watch, the SDNY has also paid close attention to fraud and abuses related to media and technology firms. But his bold move to hold the occupant of Gracie Mansion to account took his profile to a new level.
“Damian Williams might be that rarest thing in the New York political firmament. He’s the real thing, the genuine article and a capital-P prosecutor who is trying to clean up these dirty streets,” says Brian Koppelman, co-creator and executive producer of “Billions.”
By numerous accounts, Williams is a brilliant legal strategist with an impressive résumé, a naturally low-key guy in a high-profile gig. The son of Jamaican immigrants, he was born in New York but grew up in Atlanta. He went to Harvard University, where one of his friends was Natalie Portman.
After graduating from Yale Law School in 2007, he clerked for Merrick Garland and Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. He joined the SDNY as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2012.
In a commencement speech to his Yale Law alma mater in May, Williams opened up about his pathway to leading the SDNY and hurdles he faced along the way, including the devastating death of his 25-year-old sister just as he was starting his first year at Yale. “I was a broken soul,” he told the class as he recalled his early days there.
Williams may have given a hint about his future as he urged the graduates to think hard about what they really want to do with their degrees.
“History teaches that in times of conflict, times of tension, times of extreme division, it takes people of goodwill — people with a stubborn commitment to humanity, empathy and grace — to bring about peace and healing,” he said.”
Source Agencies
