The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that Eric Grant was sworn in as the Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California.
Grant takes over for Kimberly Sanchez, who was the acting U.S. Attorney since July 16.
Flashback: Sanchez bridged the gap for the Eastern District for the last few weeks after former acting U.S. Attorney Michelle Beckwith was fired by the Trump administration on July 15.
- Beckwith was only in charge of the office for five months, serving as the acting attorney after former attorney Phillip Talbert stepped down before Trump took office.
The big picture: Grant has extensive experience with the Department of Justice. He served in Washington D.C. from 1991 to 1993 as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel and from 2017 to 2021 as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
- He supervised over 100 litigators while at the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
- Along with his experience with the Department of Justice, Grant worked in private practice in Washington D.C. and Sacramento for decades.
- He also served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the Supreme Court’s 1994 term.
- Grant is a Modesto native and raised his family in Sacramento County. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a law degree from UC Berkeley.
Zoom out: Grant will now oversee 34 counties throughout the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains region, spanning from the Oregon border to the Los Angeles County line.
- He will be in charge of 72 attorneys and 61 non-attorney staff in offices in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.
What he’s saying: “I am honored to rejoin the Department of Justice to lead an excellent team of lawyers and other public servants in our shared mission to enhance public safety and the rule of law in Northern California,” Grant said. “I look forward to working with that team and with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners in law enforcement and otherwise to accomplish that mission.”
