Bryan Selects Acting AG as Search For Permanent Replacement Continues
With Attorney General Ariel Smith serving her last day on Friday, Governor Albert Bryan has confirmed to the Consortium that Ian Clement, a deputy AG at the V.I. Dept. of Justice who has been defending the Bryan administration in a suit over the composition of the Water and Power Authority Governing Board, will serve as acting attorney general while the search for a permanent replacement continues.
2024-03-18 12:38:33 - VI News Staff
The reason for the AG's dismissal hasn't been made public, and Mr. Bryan told the Consortium that he would not comment further on the resignation beyond his announcement. Even so, people with knowledge of the matter said Mr. Bryan and Ms. Smith have been at odds for some time over certain directives from the chief executive.
Following his announcement of Ms. Smith as AG in March 2023, Mr. Bryan in his letter to Senate President Novelle Francis asked that the Legislature act expeditiously and favorably on her nomination “to prevent any delays in the official functions of the department.”
Her tenure was preceded by that of Denise George, who had served as attorney general for the entire first term of the Bryan administration. She was dismissed on December 31, 2022 — days after Bloomberg News revealed that Ms. George in her capacity as V.I. attorney general had filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase — the largest bank in the United States and the world's largest bank by market capitalization — without first informing Governor Bryan of such a major action, said a person with knowledge of the matter.