Audrey Strauss


Audrey Strauss is an American attorney serving as the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. As deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss assumed the acting position on June 20, 2020, after the previous U.S. attorney, Geoffrey Berman, stepped down amid pressure from Attorney General William Barr.

Early life and education

Strauss's was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Russian immigrants. She has one brother, a retired NASA doctor. Strauss moved to New York City at the age of 16, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Barnard College and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, 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 at the Southern District of New York. She later served as Chief of Appeals in the Criminal Division and Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit. During her first tenure at the Southern District, Strauss served on the staff of the independent counsel investigating the Iran–Contra affair, and defeated attorney Roy Cohn in his attempt to overturn convictions of two mafia members.
Strauss has been a guest lecturer at Brooklyn Law School, the Fordham University School of Law, and Harvard Law School, teaching courses in trial advocacy. She has also served as a board member of The Innocence Project.
After leaving the Southern District, Strauss was a litigation partner at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. She later served as General Counsel of Alcoa. Strauss returned to the Southern District of New York in 2018, serving as Deputy U.S. Attorney under Geoffrey Berman. During her tenure as Deputy U.S. Attorney, Strauss worked on cases against Michael Cohen, Chris Collins, and Rudy Giuliani associates Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas.
On June 19, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that Berman had stepped down from his position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. In response, Berman released a statement 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, 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.

Personal life

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