Diggs nomination leading to first Black U.S. attorney for East Texas

Damien Diggs
COURTESY PHOTO

Palestine Herald-Press
By Jennifer Browning Correspondent
February 6, 2023

Last week, President Joe Biden announced his nomination for Damien Diggs to serve as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, which covers 43 of the state’s 254 counties including Anderson County and runs from Plano to Beaumont. If confirmed, Diggs would become the first Black U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

United States Attorneys are the chief federal law enforcement officers in their judicial district. The choices they make about which cases to prosecute, the charges to pursue, and what plea bargains to accept can dramatically affect the implementation and efficacy of federal law within their jurisdiction and these decisions are not politically driven.

This nomination of Diggs has been answered favorably by U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, who worked together on a bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee and recommended Diggs for the job.

Senator Cruz released a statement saying, “Once confirmed, Damien will be the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, a significant milestone given that James Byrd, Jr. was murdered in the Eastern District in 1998 after being dragged to death, and that remnants of the Ku Klux Klan operated in the area as recently as the 1990’s.” He continued, “Damien is a skilled prosecutor and community leader, and his nomination sends a strong, positive message of how far we have come as a nation. I look forward to his swift confirmation.”

President Biden said that Diggs was chosen for his devotion to enforcing the law, his professionalism, experience and credentials, dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and his commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice and says that this position will be indispensable to upholding the rule of law as a top federal law enforcement official.

Currently, Diggs is the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a position that he’s held since 2018, and during the 2020 election he oversaw complaints in that district related to election fraud and voting rights. The Northern District has also touted convictions he was involved with in cases of bank fraud and child pornography.

Diggs is also the Project Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator for his office, teaming with state and local authorities to target violent offenders in Texas communities and bring them to justice.

He previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 2012 to 2018. He also joined the Dallas Criminal Division’s Violent Crimes Section four years ago after working in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the nation’s capital, where he handled homicides and other criminal cases.

He has an extensive background as a law clerk and associate and Diggs graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Towson University in 1998 and earned his law degree at American University in 2003.

Diggs is one of 68 nominees for federal prosecutor positions across the country, while the President has also nominated twenty-two people to serve as U.S. Marshals.

Senators Cruz and Cornyn recommended four candidates to serve as U.S. attorneys in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas. Previously, President Biden nominated their recommended candidates for the other three districts and if confirmed soon by the U.S. Senate, Diggs would begin a four-year term serving our district.