Next appointment up to President-elect Trump

By Mike Donoghue

BURLINGTON — Nikolas “Kolo” Kerest, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont for the past three years, submitted his resignation Monday effective Jan. 20.

Kerest told his office Monday morning that he had sent his resignation to both outgoing President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Kerest of Shelburne has been a federal prosecutor for over 14.5 years and was selected by Biden, a Democrat, for the political appointment three year ago.

Vermont News First reported the resignation first.  Kerest’s office later filed a news release Monday afternoon confirming he will be stepping down in two weeks. 

Kerest has no immediate future professional plans.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher of Hinesburg will serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney starting Jan. 20. Drescher has spent more than 22 years in the office handling both civil and criminal cases, including several high-profile prosecutions.

Drescher was a finalist to become a federal judge in Vermont last year before it went to State Public Defender Mary Kay Lanthier of Orwell.

The post of U.S. Attorney is a presidential appointment, and the office is filled as the political party changes at the White House.

President-Elect Donald J. Trump, a Republican, will be responsible for finding a permanent replacement.

Kerest was the permanent replacement for U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan, who was named by Trump in his first term as president.

Since the November election, Nolan’s name is among a handful that have been floated to be the new federal prosecutor, but it is unknown if she would be interested in returning to the office.  Nolan, who was known for taking on cases that Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George passed on becasue they were difficult, is in private practice in Burlington.

When Kerest took over the office, it had 53 employees, including 26 lawyers.

Kerest was one of at least five Vermont lawyers interviewed by a local screening committee for the federal post in 2021. The others were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugenia A.P. Cowles and Owen Foster, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Doherty, and prominent defense lawyer and former state prosecutor Brooks McArthur of Burlington.

The U.S. Attorney is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in Vermont. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in Vermont, including crimes related to firearms, narcotics, illegal immigration, exploitation of children and older adults, terrorism, public corruption and civil rights.

In civil cases, the office represents the United States and its agencies in affirmative fraud cases, defends the United States in civil cases, and collects debts owed to the government.

Kerest began as an Assistant United States Attorney in Vermont in 2010, initially in the civil division, representing federal agencies in defensive and affirmative litigation. He served as Civil Division Chief from 2014-2019. In 2019, he moved over to the criminal division, prosecuting a variety of cases, including drug trafficking and gun offenses, violent crime and immigration fraud.

He clerked for former Judge Fred I. Parker of Burlington when he sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001.

Kerest majored in math as an undergraduate at Williams College and graduated from Cornell Law School in 2000.

Kerest’s wife of 24 years, Susannah, has been the development director and communications director at the King Street Youth Center. Both have been active in the Shelburne community. Kerest, a runner, has been involved in coaching youth sports, while his wife has done stints on the Pierson Library Board and town Planning Commission. They have two children.