A longtime federal prosecutor has been tapped by President Joe Biden to become the next U.S. Attorney for Vermont.
Nikolas Kerest, now an assistant U.S. attorney in the Vermont office, was named Tuesday by the White House as Biden’s pick to become the top federal prosecutor in the state.
Kerest was among nine selections announced Tuesday by the White House for U.S. Attorney jobs in jurisdictions across the country.
It’s been tradition for a president to seek recommendations for the U.S. attorney post from the senior senator in each state as well as that state’s top-ranking member. In this case, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is both.
Leahy said Tuesday that he forwarded Kerest’s name for the job and called to give him the heads-up Monday evening that the nomination would be made Tuesday morning.
Leahy said he took part in interviews with Kerest and several other candidates for the post.
“I was pleased he was more interested in the right cases, cases that make a difference, than just doing a number of easy cases just to build up the numbers,” the senator said of Kerest.
“A prosecutor has enormous discretion of what cases they bring,” said Leahy, a former Chittenden County prosecutor. “Anytime I make a recommendation to a president, a Republican or Democrat, I want somebody who would be able to exercise that discretion.”
Kerest would replace Christina Nolan, who resigned in February as the presidential administration changed from former President Donald Trump, a Republican, to Biden, a Democrat.
“I’m honored to be nominated and look forward to the confirmation process and getting to work,” Kerest said in a statement Tuesday, declining further comment.
Kerest still needs the approval of the U.S. Senate.
Another assistant U.S. attorney, Jonathan Ophardt, is currently serving as the acting U.S. attorney for Vermont.
Kerest has served in the criminal office of the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2019. He previously worked in the office’s civil division and was its chief 2014-16. In that role, he also served as the civil rights coordinator for the office.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Kerest was in private practice, including stints at Pierce Atwood LLP in Portland, Maine, and Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston. He received a bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 1994 and his law degree from Cornell Law School in 2000.
Nolan, Vermont’s former U.S. attorney, praised Biden’s selection of Kerest, saying she often turned to Kerest for advice on cases and running the office.
”He was just somebody that I often looked to for sort of a true north perspective on how to handle a situation,” Nolan said Tuesday.
Nolan lauded Kerest’s role in complex civil actions leading to large financial settlements involving electronic health records. That includes a $57 million settlement with a Florida-based electronic health records software company over claims the firm caused medical providers nationwide to submit false claims to the government and provided kickbacks to users.
Michael Desautels, who runs Vermont’s federal public defender’s office, described Kerest as smart, careful and thoughtful.
“He’ll be a great leader,” Desautels said. “He uses discretion appropriately but also understands the balancing of the needs of all the constituents that he’ll have to be thinking about.”
Desautels said he does not expect to see radical changes in the office with Kerest at the helm.
“He takes a real considered approach,” Desautels said. “He’s not some kind of militant, but he’s also not soft on crime.”
