Biden picks U.S. attorney for eastern California with deep experience in Sacramento, Valley
President Joe Biden plans to nominate Phillip A. Talbert Friday as United States attorney for the Eastern District of California, The Bee has learned.
Talbert has been the attorney general-appointed U.S. attorney since December. He also held the position in 2016 and 2017.
He’ll now need Senate confirmation. With Democrats controlling the Senate that should be fairly smooth unless some unexpected controversy erupts.
The office, which serves as the region’s federal prosecutor, has more than 90 attorneys and offices in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield and serves a region extending from Kern County to the Oregon state line.
Talbert was tapped to replace McGregor Scott, who served in the post under President George W. Bush and again under President Donald Trump before resigning once Biden won office.
At the time he left his post in February 2021, Scott endorsed Talbert to succeed him, and Thursday night Scott said he “could not be more pleased” by the appointment.
“His nomination will continue a longstanding tradition of merit appointments by presidents of the United States to fill this vital position in our community,” Scott said. “He is fully deserving of this honor and this recognition.”
Others in the legal community on Thursday also lauded Talbert’s expected appointment.
“That’s fantastic news,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said. “He is one of the most respected and just even-keeled assistant U.S. attorneys I’ve ever worked with, and knowing he’s now going to be appointed is great news for the entire region and the state.”
“Phil Talbert has been a steady hand on the wheel for a long time, and our community is well-served to have him as the official presidential appointee,” added former federal prosecutor and current Sacramento defense attorney Bill Portanova.
“Phil Talbert will be an exceptional U.S. attorney,” Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said. “I’ve know him for many years and have been incredibly impressed with his expertise and passion for public safety. Sacramento and the entire region will be served well by his selection.”
Talbert first worked in the office in 2002, starting in the Narcotics and Violent Crime Unit where he prosecuted drug trafficking cases.
He later became the chief of appeals and training, in charge of the office’s appellate practice. He was first assistant U.S. attorney from 2011 until April 2016.
In 2020, Talbert won the Justice Department’s Directors Award for his service and was cited for his creation of the district’s Bakersfield office, which has generated high profile cases involving hate crimes and public corruption.
“Phil represents the very best of the United States Department of Justice,” Scott said at the time. “He has devoted his legal career to the mission of DOJ to uphold the rule of law and to the people in our office. I could not be more pleased that DOJ has recognized him in this way.”
Before coming to the prosecutor’s office, he was a trial attorney in the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division. He also worked at a Seattle law firm and as a law clerk to Judge David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
He received a B.A. degree in economics from Harvard University, a master of economics degree from the University of Sydney, Australia, which he attended on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship, and his law degree from the UCLA School of Law.
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