Conversations with a handful of attorneys who frequent the Thomas Eagleton U.S. Courthouse downtown suggest that the next top federal prosecutor in St. Louis is likely to be one of two men: Tom Albus or Chris Limbaugh.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming resigned from her post atop the federal prosecutor’s office for the Eastern District of Missouri, a move that was widely seen as Fleming clearing the way for President Donald Trump to appoint her replacement.
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Albus is a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge. He was a federal prosecutor for 17 years in the office he’s now rumored to be in line to take over. He also has close ties to Senator Eric Schmitt, working as the first assistant attorney general during Schmitt’s tenure atop the office. Even liberal attorneys have good things to say about Albus, citing his long experience in the prosecutor’s office.
Limbaugh is a Circuit Court judge on the bench in Cole County (which encompasses Jefferson City). He comes from a family whose name carries weight in both the legal community and (perhaps more importantly to Trump) the conservative media sphere. His grandfather, Stephen Limbaugh Sr., served as a U.S. District Judge for many years in St. Louis and his father Stephen Limbaugh Jr., is a former Missouri Supreme Court justice and federal judge in Cape Girardeau. There’s also that Limbaugh: The deceased conservative AM radio juggernaut Rush Limbaugh was Stephen Limbaugh Jr.’s cousin.
The list of potentials has narrowed in recent weeks to just Albus and Limbaugh, sources suggest, as others who had been in the mix were appointed to federal judgeships in St. Louis by the president.
Fleming’s replacement will ultimately be decided by President Donald Trump. But despite the president at times showing a preference for firebrands and gadflies, names like Ed Martin and Mark McCloskey have not been in the mix. The choice will obviously be a Republican, meaning that even though St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore recently touted his tough-on-crime bona fides, he is a nonstarter.
Though the decision is Trump’s to make, it is generally the role of a state’s senior senator to recommend someone to the president. Albus’ close ties to Schmitt could help put him across the finish line. However, the process could also favor Limbaugh, whose name carries considerable weight at the intersection of law and politics.
