CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Attorney for Southern West Virginia Mike Stuart announced his resignation Friday.
It will take effect Feb. 28.
Stuart and Northern WV U.S. Attorney Bill Powell were among a group of Trump appointees who were asked earlier this week by the Biden administration Department of Justice to resign. It’s not uncommon for new presidents to appoint new federal prosecutors.
Powell announced his resignation earlier this week.
In a resignation letter to President Joe Biden, Stuart called his time as U.S. Attorney a distinct honor.
“My years as the United States Attorney has been a period of remarkable ·and historic success. I have remained laser-focused on the opioid epidemic and its path of destruction throughout the Mountain State,” Stuart said. “There is not a city or town, not a school or a church, not a street or a home throughout the Southern District of West Virginia that hasn’t been personally impacted. I carry in my pocket each day the pictures of the victims of the opioid crisis- beautiful young people that fell victim to a diabolical scourge. It’s the faces from those pictures that truly haunt me in the silence ofthe dark ofnight. I have embraced moms and dads at the point oftheir greatest grief. As a dad and a husband, I mourn the loss of too many lives.”
Stuart listed a sample of accomplishments and thanked his fellow prosecutors, law enforcement, former President Trump and his family.
“I am one of the luckiest people in the whole world. My life has been one of repeated blessings. If my life were to end today, I would die a man blessed far greater than what he deserves,” Stuart said.
He also wished President Biden success.