Alamdar S. Hamdani

Alamdar S. Hamdani
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office December 12, 2022
Appointed by	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Ryan Patrick
Personal details
Born	1971 or 1972 (age 52–53)[1] Manchester, England
Education	University of Texas at Austin (BBA) University of Houston (JD)

Alamdar S. Hamdani (born 1971/1972) is an American lawyer who has served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas since December 2022.

Early life and education

Hamdani was born in Manchester, England, to Indian parents who had moved there from Surat, Gujarat, India.^[2] He moved with his family to Euless, Texas, at the age of ten,^[2] and graduated from Trinity High School there in 1989.^[3] He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center in 1999.^[2][4]

Career

From 1999 to 2001, Hamdani was an associate at Dow, Cogburn & Friedman PC. From 2001 to 2005, he was an associate at Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC. From 2005 to 2008, he was a founding partner of Hamdani & Simon LLP. From 2008 to 2012, he was an assistant United States attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky. From 2012 to 2014, he served as deputy chief of the counterterrorism section of the National Security Division at the Department of Justice. From 2014 through 2022, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.^[4]

Notable cases

Hamdani co-prosecuted the case of Leatrice Malika DeBruhl-Daniels, an NCIS agent convicted of "obstructing justice, making false statements, and accepting money and gifts for official acts". She failed to disclose her relationship with Nadal Diya, a Syrian businessman living in Dubai, from whom she accepted gifts and revealed to him the status of his visa application and other classified national security information, including that Diya was the subject of a counterterrorism investigation.^[5]

U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas

On October 14, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Hamdani to be the United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas.^[4] On November 14, 2022, his nomination was sent to the United States Senate.^[6] On December 1, 2022, his nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by voice vote.^[7] On December 6, 2022, his nomination was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote.^[8] He was sworn in by District Judge Randy Crane on December 12, 2022.^[9] He is the first Asian American and Pacific Islander to serve as a U.S. Attorney in the state of Texas.^[10] Hamdani was recommended to the post by Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.^[11]

References

1. Tomaso, Bruce (August 15, 2022). "Sources: Counterterrorism and Corruption Expert Front-Runner To Be Next SDTX U.S. Attorney". The Texas Lawbook. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
2. Megan Munce & Clare Fonstein, Prosecutor who took on terrorists, corrupt cops to become new U.S. Attorney for the Houston region, Houston Chronicle (December 11, 2022).
3. Dooley, Tara (June 18, 2006). "Events of 9/11 inspires lawyer to focus attention on civil-rights issues". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
4. "President Biden Makes Twenty-Seventh Judicial Nominations Announcement and Announces New Nominees to Serve as U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. October 14, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. "Former federal agent convicted of corruption in connection to illicit relationship with subject of counterterrorism investigation". MyTexasDaily.com. June 14, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
6. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. November 14, 2022.
7. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 1, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
8. "PN2696 — Alamdar S. Hamdani — Department of Justice". uscongress.gov. December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
9. "Alamdar S. Hamdani to serve as SDTX United States Attorney". United States Department of Justice. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
10. "President Biden names two UH Law Center alumni as U.S. Attorneys in Texas". www.law.uh.edu. October 19, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
11. "Cornyn Statement on Nominations of U.S. Attorneys for Texas Districts" (Press release). October 17, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.

Legal offices
Preceded by Ryan Patrick	United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas 2022–present	Incumbent