Virginia’s senators announce recommendations for US attorney positions

Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have recommended candidates for Virginia’s two U.S. vacant U.S. attorney positions.

The senators, both Democrats, recommended Michael Gill and Erik Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia and Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, and Robert Tracci for the Western District of Virginia.

In an April 3 letter to President Donald Trump, the senators said they “believe that any of these candidates would make an excellent U.S. Attorney, and we are honored to be able to recommend them to you.”

“After considering the panels’ reviews and conducting our own interviews, we find these four candidates to be exceptionally qualified for the position of U.S. Attorney,” Warner and Kaine wrote.

An alumnus of Texas Christian University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Gill is currently assistant general counsel and director of investigations for Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News. Gill previously served for 20 years as a federal prosecutor, 15 of which were spent in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Gill’s last position at the office was as chief of the criminal division.

Siebert is currently the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a post he has held since January. A former Washington, D.C. police officer, Siebert has previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District, where he handled violent crimes, possession and trafficking of illegal firearms and narcotics. He is an alumnus of the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Richmond School of Law.

Gilbert is the current minority leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he has served as a delegate for 20 years. He was speaker of the chamber from 2022 to 2024 and has served as majority leader. Outside of the chamber, Gilbert operates his own law firm, specializing in representing criminal defendants. He is an alumnus of the University of Virginia and the Southern Methodist University School of Law.

An alumnus of Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois College of Law, Tracci is currently the senior assistant attorney general and section chief for major crimes and emerging threats at the Office of the Virginia Attorney General. Tracci previously served as the Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney and as a special assistant U.S. attorney with the Western District of Virginia.

Virginia’s U.S. attorney positions both became vacant in recent months. WDVA U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh resigned in December, months after the confirmation of his wife, Jasmine Yoon, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

EDVA U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber resigned in January following Trump’s inauguration. Aber died last month at her home in Alexandria.