McGregor William "Greg" Scott (born 1962) is an American lawyer and

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

at the

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

law firm. He served as the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

Eastern District of California The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (in case citations, E.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the ...

from 2017 to 2021. He was sworn in as a court-appointed U.S. attorney on December 29, 2017, after previously serving in the position from 2003 to 2009 during the

George W. Bush Administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...

. Prior to assuming his current role, Scott was a partner in the

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

office of

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Orrick is an international law firm founded in San Francisco, California. The firm advises on transactions, litigation and regulatory matters for venture-backed companies, public companies, E&I funds, financial institutions and governments. Histo ...

, where his practice focused on

white collar criminal defense The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

and corporate investigations. In 2008, he retired from the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

as a lieutenant colonel after 23 years of service.

Education and early career

Scott received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from Santa Clara University and a Juris Doctor from the

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California as ...

. He served as deputy district attorney in Contra Costa County from 1989 to 1997 and the elected

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. Shasta ...

District Attorney from 1997 to 2003. As district attorney for Shasta County, Scott oversaw the prosecution of brothers Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams, who murdered a gay couple in Redding and

set fire Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

to three synagogues and an abortion clinic.

Career

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

In a

trade secrets Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily a ...

misappropriation case, Scott won a $52.9 million jury verdict against

Patriot Rail Company Patriot Rail Company LLC (Patriot Rail) is a holding company for a number of shortline railroads across the United States. In June 2012, Patriot Rail was acquired by SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners (SteelRiver). On August 8, 2022 Patriot Rai ...

on behalf of his client,

Sierra Railroad The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates th ...

. He worked '' pro bono'' for Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped in 1991 and rescued from her captor in 2009.

U.S. attorney

In November 2017, Scott was appointed by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

to a four-year term as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California. He was confirmed by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 7, 2018. During his previous tenure, Scott's office prosecuted a number of mortgage fraud cases during the

financial crisis of 2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, won a $102 million settlement with

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

over allegations that railroad workers sparked a large wildfire, and prosecuted Hamid and Umer Hayat for allegedly

providing material support for terrorism In United States law, providing material support for terrorism is a crime prohibited by the USA PATRIOT Act and codified in title 18 of the United States Code, section2339Aan2339B It applies primarily to groups designated as terrorists by the St ...

and lying about it to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

. At the time of the $102 million settlement with Union Pacific Railroad, it was the largest civil settlement in the district's history. He subsequently encouraged the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

to create a program to pursue damages against companies that start fires that damage federal forests. Scott also served on an advisory committee that offered counsel to United States Attorneys General

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...

and Alberto Gonzales. The editorial board of '' The Sacramento Bee'' endorsed Scott's most recent nomination to become U.S. attorney, writing "Trump could not have found a more qualified chief federal prosecutor for the sprawling district." On February 8, 2021, he along with 55 other Trump-era

s were asked to resign. On February 10, 2021, Scott announced his resignation, effective February 28.

King & Spalding

In June 2021, Scott joined international law firm

as a

working out of the Sacramento and San Francisco offices.

Fraud special counsel

On July 20, 2021,

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

, the

Employment Development Department In California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) is a department of government that administers the Unemployment Insurance (UI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs. The department also provides employment ...

(EDD) and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services Fraud Task Force appointed Scott as "fraud special counsel" to investigate unemployment fraud against the EDD during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

References

External links

Interview with Scott on ''Frontline''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, McGregor William 1962 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers California lawyers California Republicans Military personnel from California National Guard (United States) officers Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe people People from Mountain View, California Santa Clara University alumni United States Army officers United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of California University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni