Trump dismisses Seattle-based U.S. attorney as part of nationwide purge

SEATTLE – Tessa Gorman, appointed U.S. attorney for Western Washington last January after serving three years as interim, has been dismissed at the direction of President Donald Trump.

Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, confirmed Gorman was terminated this week amid reports of a purge of top federal prosecutors by Trump’s administration.

Gorman, a senior criminal and white-collar prosecutor in the office before she was appointed interim U.S. attorney in 2021, remains on the staff as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Gorman declined to comment.

She had replaced Brian Moran, who was appointed U.S. attorney by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2019. He stepped down after Biden was elected in 2020, a tradition when a new administration takes over.

It is not clear why Trump chose to terminate Gorman, who was appointed acting U.S. attorney in May 2021 and then served as first assistant after former President Joe Biden appointed Nick Brown to the job in August of that year.

Brown left the job in June 2023 after he announced his candidacy for state attorney general – a race he won – and Gorman again stepped into the role as acting U.S. attorney. She was appointed as full-time U.S. attorney in January 2024 by then Attorney General Merrick Garland and later by the district’s federal judges.

Langlie said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller will act as interim U.S. attorney pending further announcements.