President Donald Trump on Friday tapped former state Rep. B.J. Pak and Albany lawyer Charlie Peeler to be U.S. attorneys based in Georgia.
Trump said both candidates shared his vision for "Making America Safe Again." They are being nominated for four-year terms and must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. News of their selection was first reported by your Insiders last week.
If confirmed, Pak will head the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, a vaunted position once held by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, Georgia Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias and ex-U.S. Rep. Bob Barr.
Pak is a former federal prosecutor who represented a Gwinnett County-based district in the state House for three terms. While an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, he led the prosecution of conspirators who tried to steal Coca-Cola’s trade secrets and aimed to sell them to Pepsi. Now a partner in a well-connected GOP law firm, Pak briefly considered running for Georgia attorney general.
Peeler would take over the U.S. attorney slot in Georgia's Middle District, which spans from Albany northeast to Athens. A former attorney with the King & Spalding mega-firm in Atlanta, Peeler moved to Albany about a decade ago to start a boutique litigation firm.
Republicans Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, Georgia's two U.S senators, signaled their approval of both candidates in a joint press release.
“These are two great Georgians whom the president intends to nominate to serve as U.S. attorneys,” Isakson said. “I look forward to working with them as they go through the confirmation process in the Senate.”
The announcement comes a week after Trump named his picks to fill Georgia's vacant federal district judge positions.
A third Georgia-based U.S. attorney is expected to be named shortly by the White House. Columbia County-based lawyer Bobby Christine has been listed as a favorite to lead the state's Southern District, which stretches from Augusta through Savannah.
Read more: White House names three to be federal judges in Georgia
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