Audrey Strauss (born October 7, 1947) is an American attorney who served as the

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the United States Attorney, chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York County, ...

from June 20, 2020, to October 10, 2021. Previously the deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss became the acting U.S. Attorney after the previous U.S. attorney,

Geoffrey Berman Geoffrey Steven Berman (born September 12, 1959) is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to 2020. He is the Global Chair of the litigation department at the law firm Fried, ...

, was fired by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

at the request of

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...

. On December 22, 2020, the

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York City ...

, effective January 16, 2021, and pursuant to , unanimously appointed Strauss as

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for an indeterminate term.

Early life and education

Strauss was born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Russian immigrants. She has one brother, a retired

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

doctor. Her parents died when she was young, after which she and her brother were raised by family friends. She moved to New York City to attend

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

at the age of 16, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduating ''cum laude'' four years later. She then earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Kent Scholar.

Career

After graduating from law school, she clerked for then-U.S. District Judge Lawrence Pierce. From 1976 to 1983, Strauss served as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

at the

Southern District of New York The Southern District of New York is a federal judicial district that encompasses the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Federal offices or agencies operating in the distri ...

. During her time there, she served on the staff of the independent counsel investigating the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...

. She also successfully argued against attorney

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn ( ; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–53) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel duri ...

in his attempt to overturn convictions of two

Gambino family Gambino is an Italian surname. Notable persons with that surname include: Surname * (1899–1987), Argentine conductor * Antonella Gambino (born 1990), Argentine handball player * Domenico Gambino (1890–1968), Italian actor, screenwriter, and ...

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

members. She served as Chief of Appeals in the Criminal Division and as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit. After leaving the Southern District, she worked in private practice for 30 years, primarily as a defense attorney in white-collar cases. Strauss became a litigation partner at

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (known as Fried Frank), is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Frankfurt, and Brussels. It has more than 800 attorneys wor ...

, then at

Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon was a prominent New York City law firm founded in 1869. The firm was later known as Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, & Alexander, was subsequently again renamed as Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. The firm is ...

. She later served as General Counsel of

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

, an industrial corporation based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania. She has been a guest lecturer at

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty. ...

, the

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, teaching courses in trial advocacy. She has also served as a board member of

The Innocence Project ''The Innocence Project'' is a television drama series created by BBC Northern Ireland and first broadcast on BBC One on 9 November 2006. The series follows the work of Professor Jon Ford (Lloyd Owen), who sets up ''The Innocence Project'', peo ...

. Strauss returned to the Southern District of New York in 2018, serving as Deputy U.S. Attorney under

. During her tenure as Deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss worked on cases against Michael Cohen, Chris Collins, and

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

associates

Igor Fruman Igor Fruman (born 1966) is a Soviet-born American businessman. He is an associate of Rudy Giuliani who, along with Lev Parnas, aided in a search in Ukraine for detrimental information on U.S. President Donald Trump's political opponents. This in ...

and

Lev Parnas Lev Parnas (born February 6, 1972) is a Soviet-born American businessman and former associate of Rudy Giuliani. Parnas, Giuliani, Igor Fruman, John Solomon, Yuriy Lutsenko, Dmytro Firtash and his allies, Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenov ...

. Late in the night of June 19, 2020, Attorney General

announced that Berman had stepped down from his position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and was being replaced by SEC chairman Jay Clayton. In response, Berman released a statement saying he learned of this only from news reports and that he had not resigned and would not, claiming that, as he had been nominated by a committee of judges on the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...

, he would not leave his position until a successor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. On June 20, Barr stated that the President had fired Berman, adding, "By operation of law, the Deputy United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss, will become the Acting United States Attorney," serving until a nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Berman then agreed to step down. On January 14, 2021, Strauss announced a $180 million fine on Toyota for violating the Clean Air Act.

Personal life

Strauss is married to John "Rusty" Wing, a defense attorney. The couple have four children. Strauss is a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. Her son, Mathew Wing, was married to

Melissa DeRosa Melissa DeRosa is an American former government official. She served as Secretary to the former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, from 2017 until 2021. In 2023, she released a memoir titled ''What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Pow ...

, who was secretary to the governor of the State of New York,

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

until August 2021.

References

External links

Meet the U.S. Attorney
on justice.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Audrey 1940s births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Assistant United States attorneys Barnard College alumni Columbia Law School alumni Lawyers from Philadelphia Living people First Trump administration personnel United States attorneys for the Southern District of New York