Matthew Whitaker

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Matthew Whitaker
United States Attorney General
Acting
Assumed office
November 7, 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyRod Rosenstein
Preceded byJeff Sessions
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
In office
June 15, 2004 – November 25, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byStephen Patrick O'Meara
Succeeded byNicholas A. Klinefeldt
Personal details
Born (1969-10-29) October 29, 1969 (age 54)
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Iowa (BA, JD, MBA)

Matthew G. Whitaker (born October 29, 1969) is an American lawyer and the acting United States Attorney General. He was appointed as such by President Donald Trump on November 7, 2018, after Jeff Sessions was asked to resign. Whitaker had served as Chief of Staff under Sessions.[1]

Whitaker previously served in the United States Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. Whitaker ran as a Republican candidate in the June 4, 2014, primary election for United States Senate election in Iowa, which he lost. In 2002, he was the unsuccessful Republican Party's candidate for Treasurer of Iowa.

Education

Whitaker graduated from Ankeny High School and graduated with a Master of Business Administration, Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Arts (communications major) from the University of Iowa.[2] While at Iowa, Whitaker played tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team, appearing in Iowa's Rose Bowl game in 1991.[3][4]

Career

Whitaker's U.S. Attorney portrait

Early career

After graduating from law school, Whitaker worked for a number of regional law firms including Briggs & Morgan (Minneapolis) and Finley Alt Smith (Des Moines). He was also corporate counsel for a national grocery company, SUPERVALU and small businessman owning interests in a trailer manufacturing company, a daycare, and a concrete supply company.[5]

Whitaker ran as a Republican for Treasurer of Iowa in 2002. He lost to incumbent Democrat Michael Fitzgerald by 55% to 43%,[6]

United States Attorney

On June 15, 2004, Whitaker was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa by President George W. Bush. From 2005 to 2007, he was responsible for the unsuccessful investigation and prosecution of Iowa State Sen. Matt McCoy on charges of attempting to extort $2000. The jury took less than 2 hours to return a not guilty verdict.[7] As is typical when new administrations begin, Whitaker resigned in November 2009 following the appointment and confirmation of Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.[3][8][9]

General practice and political activities

Whitaker was a managing partner of the small general practice law firm Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP (now Hagenow Gustoff LLP) from 2009-2017.

Whitaker was the co-chairman of Texas Governor Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign.[10]

Whitaker was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa. The seat was being vacated by Democrat Tom Harkin. He came fourth in the Republican primary, with 11,909 votes (7.54%). The nomination was won by Joni Ernst, who went on to win the general election.[11] After losing the Republican primary, Whitaker chaired the campaign of Sam Clovis, also an unsuccessful primary candidate,[12] for Iowa state treasurer in 2014.[13][14][15]

Whitaker was a CNN contributor for four months, from June to September 2017.[16]

World Patent Marketing

In 2014, Whitaker became a paid Advisory Board member for World Patent Marketing.[17] In March 2017, the Federal Trade Commission requested a temporary suspension of World Patent Marketing and to freeze its assets prior to commencing litigation for fraud.[18][19] The company donated to Whitaker's campaign when he ran for Senate in 2014.[20] The Wall Street Journal reported he received $9,375 between 2014 and 2016. He was also owed a further $7,500 at the time the FTC shut down the company.[21]

Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust

Before Whitaker joined the Justice Department as Sessions’ chief of staff, Whitaker was the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.[22] FACT was founded in 2014 and operates as a conservative nonprofit specialising in legal and ethical issues related to politics.[23][24] Whitaker tenure at FACT was from October 2014 to September 2017 during which time the organisation had a special focus on Hillary Clinton regarding alleged misconduct relating to Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy and perceived favoritism in business dealings.[25]

Department of Justice

On August 6, 2017, one month prior to joining the Justice Department, Whitaker wrote an opinion column for CNN titled "Mueller's Investigation of Trump is Going Too Far."[26] He stated that Mueller's investigation should be limited and should not probe into Trump's finances.[27] On September 22, 2017, a Justice Department official announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Whitaker to be his Chief of Staff.[28][29] In early September 2018, Whitaker was revealed to be on the short list of President Trump's White House staff as the replacement for Don McGahn as the White House Counsel.[30][31][32]

During conflicting reports about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's firing, potential resignation and eventual retention on September 25, 2018, Whitaker is reported to have told officials that he would assume Rosenstein's post, while control of the Russia investigation would fall to the Solicitor General, Noel Francisco.[33] The New York Times reported on September 25, 2018, that White House chief of staff John Kelly advised Whitaker that he would be appointed acting deputy attorney general should Rosenstein exit, and described Whitaker as a Trump loyalist who, if appointed, "could have visibility into the special counsel’s work."[34] In addition to the deputy attorney general role, The Washington Post reported on October 10, 2018, that President Trump had also spoken with Whitaker about potentially assuming Jeff Sessions' role as Attorney General.[35] With the resignation of Jeff Sessions on November 7, 2018, Whitaker was appointed to serve as Acting Attorney General.[2][36]

In September 2018, The New York Times described Whitaker as a Trump loyalist who had frequently visited the Oval Office and has "an easy chemistry" with Trump. With his appointment, Whitaker directly supervises Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation, which had previously been supervised by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. Democrats demanded Whitaker recuse himself from supervising the investigation, citing potential conflicts of interest. Shortly before joining the Justice Department in 2017, Whitaker wrote an opinion piece arguing that the Mueller investigation was "going too far." He also referred to the Mueller investigation as a "lynch mob"[37][38][39][40] and to calls for appointment of an independent prosecutor as "craven attempts to score cheap political points".[41]

References

  1. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren; Oprysko, Caitlyn (November 7, 2018). "Sessions ousted". POLITICO. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Trump names Iowa native Matt Whitaker acting attorney general after Sessions resigns". The Des Moines Register. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "United States Attorney Announces Resignation". Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-01-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "2018 Football Roster - University of Iowa Hawkeyes". www.hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa, Matthew Whitaker biography". Archived from the original on 2004-11-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "2002 State Treasurer General Election Results - Iowa". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "State Sen. McCoy not guilty of extortion". Sioux City Journal. December 14, 2007. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  8. ^ "Iowa Southern District U.S. Attorney to Resign". MainJustice.com. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefledt Sworn in this Morning".
  10. ^ Earl, Jennifer. Matthew Whitaker to replace Jeff Sessions as acting attorney general: 3 things to know, FOX News, November 7, 2018.
  11. ^ "GOP's Matt Whitaker says he's running for U.S. Senate". Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-05-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Obradovich, Kathie (June 30, 2014). "'Non-politician' Clovis drafted into new race". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  13. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (November 7, 2018). "What Sessions's Resignation Means for Robert Mueller". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  14. ^ "Top Trump campaign aide Clovis spoke to Mueller team, grand jury". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  15. ^ CNN, Caroline Kelly and Liz Stark,. "Former Trump co-chairman on meeting FBI source: Like sitting in 'faculty lounge talking about research'". Retrieved 7 November 2018. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker Was a CNN Contributor". The Hollywood Reporter. November 7, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  17. ^ Marketing, World Patent. "Former Republican Candidate for the United States Senate Joins World Patent Marketing Advisory Board". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  18. ^ "World Patent Marketing". Federal Trade Commission. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  19. ^ Shammas, Brittany (2017-08-22). "A Miami Beach Scam Took Millions of Dollars From Thousands of Inventors, Feds Say". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  20. ^ "Whitaker, acting U.S. attorney general, was on board of firm that threatened duped clients with 'Israeli Special Ops' - U.S. News - Haaretz.com". Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  21. ^ Full access to WSJ article via Twitter: https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1060351218344714240
  22. ^ Zeitlin, Matthew. "The New Acting Attorney General Was Previously a Dark Money–Funded Clinton Antagonist". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  23. ^ "Matthew Whitaker". Fox News. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  24. ^ "Conservative group calls for Grayson ethics probe". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  25. ^ "Trump's new acting attorney general was obsessed with Clinton's emails". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  26. ^ Whitaker, Matthew. "Mueller's investigation of Trump is going too far". CNN. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  27. ^ Reilly, Ryan J. (September 22, 2017). "Jeff Sessions' New Chief Of Staff: Mueller's Russia Probe Could Be A 'Witch Hunt': Matthew Whitaker thinks Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should "order Mueller to limit the scope of his investigation."". HuffPost. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  28. ^ "Matt Whitaker Named AG's Chief of Staff". National Association of Former United States Attorneys. October 11, 2017.
  29. ^ Reilly, Ryan J. (22 September 2017). "Jeff Sessions' New Chief Of Staff: Mueller's Russia Probe Could Be A 'Witch Hunt'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  30. ^ Price, Dave (September 9, 2018). "Report: Former Iowa Hawkeye Tight End Might Be President Trump's Next Lawyer". WHO TV. Des Moines. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  31. ^ Burris, Sarah K. (September 9, 2018). "Donald Trump is 'bluffing' when he claims he knows who the next White House counsel will be: Axios". Raw Story. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  32. ^ Swan, Jonathan (September 9, 2018). "Scoop: Inside Trump's biggest hire". Axios. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  33. ^ Zapotosky, Matt; Devlin, Barrett; Dawsey, Josh (September 26, 2018). "Rod Rosenstein's departure was imminent. Now he is likely to survive until after the midterms, officials say". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  34. ^ "Matthew Whitaker, a Trump Loyalist, Is Seen as Ascendant Amid Rosenstein Chaos". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  35. ^ Zapotosky, Matt; Dawsey, Josh (October 11, 2018). "Trump talked with Jeff Sessions's own chief of staff about replacing him as attorney general". Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  36. ^ "Trump fires Jeff Sessions, names Matthew Whitaker as interim attorney general". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  37. ^ "Matthew Whitaker, a Trump Loyalist, Is Seen as Ascendant Amid Rosenstein Chaos". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  38. ^ "Jeff Sessions Is Forced Out as Attorney General as Trump Installs Loyalist". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  39. ^ Whitaker, Matthew. "Mueller's investigation of Trump is going too far". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  40. ^ "Jeff Sessions's Firing, Matthew Whitaker's Rise and the Attorney General's Role In the Mueller Investigation". 7 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  41. ^ "Trump fires Jeff Sessions - is Robert Mueller next?". 7 November 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthew Whitaker.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Stephen Patrick O'Meara
 United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
2004–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Attorney General
Acting
2018–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Secretary of Defense Order of Precedence of the United States
as Acting Attorney General 		Succeeded byas Secretary of the Interior

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