The U.S. Senate has confirmed Kenneth A. Polite as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, according to WDSU. He was officially sworn in last Wednesday, making him the second African American to serve in this position.
Senators voted 56-44 to make Polite the chief of the criminal division, saddling him with the responsibility of overseeing prosecutions ranging from corporate and cybercrime to drug trafficking.
“I’m confident that Kenneth Polite will exercise sound judgment as an assistant attorney general,” John Kennedy, a Republican senator from Louisiana said. “I believe he’ll pursue justice and shun political pressure, and that’s why I was happy to support his nomination.”
Polite previously served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana between 2013 and 2017 when he was nominated by former President Barack Obama.
Having had a stint in the private sector as a partner at the Morgan Lewis law firm in Philadelphia, Polite succeeds acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid.
