The Senate confirmed Colin McDonald on Tuesday as the Justice Department’s top fraud prosecutor, putting a veteran federal attorney in charge of a sweeping effort to recover billions of taxpayer dollars lost to state-level fraud schemes.
The 52-47 vote fell almost entirely along party lines. McDonald, a California native, had been serving as an associate deputy attorney general and will now lead DOJ efforts as assistant attorney general, with nationwide jurisdiction to prosecute fraud cases.
Vice President JD Vance, who chairs the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, praised the confirmation Tuesday.
“Colin McDonald is a great choice and will be a key asset in the War on Fraud,” Vance told the New York Post. “The Task Force to Eliminate Fraud will help coordinate the interagency effort to root out and identify fraudsters, and separately, Colin will have nationwide jurisdiction at the Justice Department to prosecute the bad guys.”
The task force will be co-chaired by Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller will serve as senior adviser.
McDonald steps into the role as the administration escalates its probe into alleged fraud in Minnesota and California, where state-linked programs have been accused of funneling taxpayer money through fake or inflated social service organizations, including child care centers.
McDonald built his reputation in the Southern District of California, where he spent more than a decade as an assistant U.S. Attorney. His most notable case: the takedown of former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, convicted in 2020 on charges of false arrest and obstruction of justice after he and his wife used their law enforcement positions to frame a relative. The scheme was designed to hide their theft of $148,000 from an elderly family member. Prosecutors said the money went toward Mercedes and Maserati sports cars, a Disneyland trip, Elton John tickets, and a $23,976 brunch tab.
