Peter McCoy’s last appointment from Donald Trump put him in charge of federal prosecutions across South Carolina as U.S. attorney. Now, the Charleston lawyer has been nominated for a different kind of role: U.S. ambassador to Montenegro.
The White House announced the nomination June 1. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the former state lawmaker would represent the United States in the Balkan nation of about 623,000 people on the Adriatic Coast.
No timetable for his confirmation hearings was announced.
Attempts to reach McCoy for comment June 2 were not immediately successful.
With this announcement, McCoy becomes the latest South Carolinian to be tapped for an ambassadorship. Earlier this spring Trump nominated former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer to serve as U.S. ambassador to Belize.
For McCoy and Bauer to move forward, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee must schedule and hold a confirmation hearing, followed by a full Senate vote to confirm their appointments.
During his first term, Trump nominated McCoy to be U.S. attorney for South Carolina in February 2020, a post he held until he resigned in February 2021.
In the role, McCoy prosecuted both civil and criminal cases, as well as investigated coronavirus fraud schemes, hoarding, and price gouging activities, according to a statement from his office at the time.
He supervised an office of about 60 prosecutors and nearly 100 other staff.
The Charleston Republican was elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in 2010 and served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in his final term. He resigned his post to become the interim U.S. attorney.
If confirmed for the ambassador’s post, McCoy would likely step away from his role as chairman of the Santee Cooper Board of Directors, a position he has held since 2021 overseeing the state-owned power and water utility.
McCoy is married to Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. McCoy, and they have three children.
Montenegro, a member of NATO, is considered the front-runner among Western Balkan nations seeking to join the European Union and already uses the euro as its currency.
Its path toward European Union membership has been tied to efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and combat corruption and organized crime, issues that have long challenged the small Balkan nation.
Last month, Montenegro marked 20 years of independence from Serbia.