Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware’s U.S. Attorney is charged with prosecuting defendants accused of violating federal crimes in the state. Because of the state’s unique role as the legal home to millions of companies, the office has also taken an outsized number of white-collar crime, such as ongoing charges against Wal-Mart pharmacies for past opioid sales. More recently, the office has been under political scrutiny for how it handled an investigation in Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden’s son.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has appointed Delaware’s Republican Party chair, Julianne Murray, to serve as the state’s next interim U.S. Attorney — a temporary position but one that could lead the prominent conservative to being nominated as a full-time federal prosecutor at a future date.
Murray will become the third interim federal prosecutor in Delaware since January, when David Weiss retired from the post and from a parallel position of special counsel charged with investigating Hunter Biden.
Although the Trump administration has not publicly announced the appointment, Spotlight Delaware received confirmation of it from Nick Miles, executive director of the state GOP, and from a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Chris Coons.
Coons’ staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, emphasized that the White House told the Senate office on Wednesday that Murray’s appointment is an interim one made by the Attorney General “and not a nomination made by the President.”
Murray was not among a lengthy slate of White House nominations submitted July 1, which included other U.S. attorney positions, nor a handful of ambassadorships submitted Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to a request to comment on the appointment Wednesday.
Murray also was not available to comment Wednesday.
Miles said she would speak publicly on the appointment on Monday after she is sworn into the new position.
Whether Murray is ultimately nominated to the post permanently, the U.S. Attorney’s office will at least temporarily get a new boss who is a staunch political ally to President Donald Trump.
Murray rose to political prominence in Delaware following the onset of the COVID pandemic five years ago, when she sued then-Gov. John Carney over restrictions on public activity imposed in response to the outbreak.
Murray, a partner at Georgetown-based Murray, Phillips and Gay, sued the governor on behalf of her husband, according to a report then from the Associated Press.
Later that same year, she became Delaware’s Republican candidate for governor, ultimately losing to Carney in the general election by more than 20 points.
In the subsequent years, Murray continued to advance a political career. In 2022, she ran unsuccessfully to become Delaware’s attorney general. A year later, she won a bid to become chair of the state Republican Party.
Last year, Trump cheered Murray during a campaign rally in New Jersey, calling her “a woman who has done an incredible job in Delaware.”
He again lauded her in a May Truth Social post, in which he endorsed her candidacy to serve another term as the head of the state Republican party.
“Julianne is MAGA all the way,” Trump said in the post, which Murray subsequently reposted onto her own Facebook page.
A national controversy
Murray’s appointment comes in the wake of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Delaware facing outsized political scrutiny in recent years amid a politically explosive investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax payments, business activities, and his possession of a gun.
Murray also has also been a critic of the younger Biden, even filing an amicus brief in the Biden case on behalf of the conservative Heritage Foundation. In it, she argued that “neither the Government nor the Defendant have an interest” in disclosing relevant facts.
A day after filing the brief in July 2023, Murray attended a now-infamous federal court hearing in Wilmington that saw a plea deal fall apart between Hunter Biden’s attorneys and Delaware federal prosecutors, following a judge’s scrutiny of the deal.
Part of the judge’s doubts about the proposed plea deal was that a future federal prosecutor in Delaware could declare the plea void on constitutional grounds, and then resume the investigation.
Following the ruling, Murray spoke to news cameras outside the federal courthouse, explaining what had happened during the chaotic hearing.
Republican response
Murray’s priorities for what is now a interim term as federal prosecutor are not immediately clear.
In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, state Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford) said she may choose to strictly enforce federal statutes that have corresponding state laws that have been pulled back — such as those restricting drug use.
He also said Murray’s appointment will provide balance to Delaware’s political landscape, which has long been dominated by Democrats.
Shupe said Murray told him about the appointment on Wednesday. During their conversation, she did not mention whether she would resume any investigation into the Bidens, he said.
“She didn’t mention Hunter Biden or the Biden family at all,” he said.
Not all state Republicans are supporting Murray’s appointment. When contacted about it, State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) said in a text message that the appointment “is exactly what she worked to get, at the detriment of the party.”
Late last year, Lawson announced that he would challenge Murray as chair of the state Republican Party. Earlier this year, he withdrew his name from contention for the seat and Murray was re-elected to the position.
