Indian American Vikas Khanna Named First Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Jersey

Philip R. Sellinger, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey has named Indian American Vikas Khanna as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. He is part of a team announced earlier this week, including 13 women and people “of diverse backgrounds,” according to a Department of Justice press release.

Khanna’s appointment marks his return to the office from the private sector, where he worked as a partner at an international law firm in New York. The brother of U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) served as the state’s Assistant United States Attorney for nine years before joining the private sector. During that time, he handled some of the office’s “most significant prosecutions of individuals and corporations,” the DOJ said. 

“I am thrilled to welcome Vikas back to the Office as First Assistant U.S. Attorney,” U.S. Attorney Sellinger said. “Vikas is a highly respected alumnus of our Office, celebrated by AUSAs, the defense bar, and members of the judiciary for his exceptional intellect and judgment. I am confident he will be an extraordinary leader of the Office, and I look forward to working together to advance the cause of justice for the people of New Jersey.”

He also served as a line assistant in the General Crimes Unit and the Special Prosecutions Division, before being appointed as Deputy Chief of the Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in June 2017 and then as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in June 2018. In the latter role, he supervised criminal and civil AUSAs in the Health Care and Government Fraud, Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement, and Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Units. 

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Before becoming an Assistant United States Attorney, he served in the private sector for three years. He has previously clerked for the Honorable Mark Wolf, Chief Judge in the District of Massachusetts.