McGregor W. Scott

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, which includes the Central Valley, announced his resignation from the post he held going as far back as President George W. Bush.

McGregor W. Scott will officially leave the position Feb. 28, according to a press release from the Department of Justice. President Biden had asked most Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys to resign. It is commonplace for administrations to change their teams of federal prosecutors. Forty-six Obama-appointed attorneys were asked by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign at the start of the Trump  Administration.

Phillip A. Talbert will take the position as acting U.S. Attorney March 1. Talbert is currently first assistant U.S. attorney. He has been in the office for 18 years.

Scott was sworn in as U.S. Attorney in December 2017. Before that, he also held the office between 2003 to 2009.

“Serving as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California has been the most fulfilling experience of my professional career,” said Scott. “It has been an honor these past three years to work with the women and men in this office and our law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe, to safeguard the Treasury, and to provide the United States with the highest quality legal representation in all the matters we handle.”

In the position, Scott prosecuted cases of mortgage fraud during the 2008 housing crisis. More recently, he also made the decision to guide legal resources in prosecuting marijuana grows on public lands as well as interstate trafficking rather than pursuing the state’s black market.