The Eastern District of California has a new interim chief to stand at the legal helm. Eric Grant was sworn in as the Interim United States Attorney for the region by Chief United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley, according to an official release from the United States Attorney's Office. Grant steps into the role following the appointment made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, effective last Monday, August 11.
Having been an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel from 1991 to 1993, the Department of Justice is not unfamiliar ground for Grant. His credentials seem solid enough for the job—also previously serving as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General within the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) from 2017 to 2021. Supervising more than a hundred Department litigators, Grant's track record shows involvement in both civil and criminal enforcement and defensive matters, advancing the interests of the United States and its agencies. Seeing the larger canvas of public safety and rule of law in Northern California, "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," said U.S. Attorney Grant, in U.S. Attorney's Office statement released to the press.
Grant's history stretches beyond the halls of the Department of Justice, seasoned through decades in private practice. Both California and federal courts have heard his voice, with legal arguments presented in the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and various federal and state courts. Grant's legal education trails back to the University of California, Berkeley, from which he holds both a bachelor's degree in economics and a law degree.
Born and raised in Modesto, California, the new U.S. Attorney is no stranger to Sacramento County, where he raised his family. Modesto's native son once clerked for esteemed legal minds such as Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (retired) and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the Supreme Court's October 1994 Term, Grant having previously served as a law clerk to Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Eastern District for which he now takes up the mantle covers 34 counties, stretching from the Oregon border in the north to the Los Angeles County line in the south, earmarking Grant's jurisdiction as vast as the Golden State's historic valleys and sierras.
Ensuring federal laws are enforced effectively, the United States Attorney plays a pivotal role in prosecuting federal criminal cases and representing the United States in civil litigation. The Eastern District's office, spread between Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield, includes 72 attorneys and is supported by 61 non-attorney staff, all of which will now look to Grant's guidance as they traverse the complex, evolving landscape of federal law enforcement in California.
