Following a recommendation from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, President Joe Biden has nominated Carla Freedman, a Syracuse native, to serve as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.聽
If confirmed, Freedman will be the first woman to be the top federal prosecutor in the region. The Northern District of New York consists of 32 counties, including Cayuga and Onondaga.聽
Freedman, a Syracuse University and New York Law School alumna, has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York since 2007. She is the narcotics chief, leads the office's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and is the opioid coordinator.聽
Prior to joining the U.S. attorney's office, she was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan for 16 years, from 1988 to 2004. During the final seven years of her tenure with the Manhattan district attorney's office, she led a unit that investigated organized crime.聽
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Gillibrand, D-N.Y., recommended Freedman in March. The recommendation was backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York's other senator, and U.S. Rep. John Katko, who represents the Syracuse area. Katko is a former federal prosecutor who worked with Freedman in the U.S. attorney's office.聽
"I have known Carla Freedman for many years and had the pleasure of supervising her when I led the Organized Crime Unit for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York," Katko said in a statement. "During that time, I witnessed firsthand her astounding work ethic, meticulous work product, and zeal for justice.聽
"By any measure, Carla Freedman is a superb prosecutor who has a dogged determination to do the right thing, whatever that may be. She is exactly the type of leader that the Northern District of New York needs. I'm thrilled she has been nominated for this distinguished position and urge the Senate to move swiftly in her confirmation."聽
When Gillibrand announced her recommendation, she hailed Freedman as "an accomplished and passionate attorney who has dedicated her career to equal justice under the law."
"Ms. Freedman is a brilliant legal leader and a woman of outstanding character who can help restore public faith in our justice system in the NDNY," Gillibrand said. "I am proud to recommend her to the White House and look forward to her historic accomplishment as the first woman nominated and confirmed to be U.S. attorney for the Northern District."聽
Biden's nomination will be considered by the Senate. Barring any setbacks, Freedman will likely cruise to confirmation in the Democratic-controlled Senate.聽
If Freedman is confirmed, she will succeed Antoinette Bacon, who has been the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District since September 2020.聽
Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.