Trini Ross is out as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, with officials announcing Tuesday that Joel Violanti will take over in an acting role.
The U.S. attorney is the top law enforcement official in the district — overseeing federal prosecutions across 17 counties, including Monroe County, and 120 prosecutors and staff in Buffalo and Rochester.
It has become customary since the Clinton administration for presidents to replace their predecessor’s appointees in these posts. Ross announced her resignation Friday in an email that was quickly recalled. Then came an email Monday in which Ross said it was “the honor of a lifetime to serve in this position” and listed her accomplishments but did not state that she was leaving, or why.
An office spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that Ross had been let go.
Ross and Carla Freedman, who served as U.S. attorney for New York’s Northern District, are the only in the Empire State who are presidentially appointed. Both have left office in recent days. Freeman sent a release that “announced the conclusion of her tenure.”
Other presidential appointees, including U.S. attorneys in Maine and Arizona, also left with announcements stating they were terminated.
Firings of remaining Biden-era appointees began last week, some with single-sentence messages that they were terminated, according to Bloomberg Law. In some instances, the White House reportedly did not coordinate with the Department of Justice, creating confusion on who was next in line to sign court filings.
It was not clear if that is what happened with the Western District office.
Ross, a 2021 appointee of President Joe Biden, was the first Black woman to lead the district office. She is an experienced lawyer who came to the office after working as director of investigations in the legal division of the National Science Foundation’s Office of Inspector General.
Violanti was an assistant district attorney in Erie County before joining the office as an assistant U.S. attorney in1995. He has worked in the general crimes and the narcotics and violent crimes divisions, served as deputy chief of the narcotics and organized crime section and was named first assistant U.S. attorney in January.
