Trump Fired Her Boss. Now She's Taking Cases That Incensed White House. [View all]

[Zorro]

Audrey Strauss has been a behind-the-scenes force in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan as it pursued cases against people connected to President Trump.

One Friday afternoon in August of 2018, lawyers for President Trump’s longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, made a final bid for leniency to federal prosecutors in Manhattan. He was facing charges including that he paid hush money on Mr. Trump’s behalf to an adult film star during the 2016 campaign.

Audrey Strauss, one of two senior prosecutors in the room, listened silently to the pitch, smiling at the lawyers but letting others do the talking, people familiar with the meeting said. Over the next few days, however, Ms. Strauss played a key role in the momentous decision to proceed against Mr. Cohen, a move that infuriated the White House.

Now, Ms. Strauss, a 72-year-old former defense lawyer known for her understated style, has been forced into the spotlight, taking over as the acting U. S. attorney in the storied prosecutor’s office, which continues to find itself in the president’s cross hairs. She will lead politically sensitive investigations into people in Mr. Trump’s orbit in the run-up to a hotly contested election, and her decisions will be scrutinized.

Ms. Strauss’s appointment happened with dizzying speed. In the span of 24 chaotic hours this weekend, President Trump and his attorney general, William P. Barr, had tried to oust her boss, Geoffrey S. Berman, and replace him with one of Mr. Barr’s allies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/nyregion/us-attorney-trump-audrey-strauss.html