Don McGahn: Difference between revisions

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Walter Shaub was fired by McGahn. His tweets are not objective.
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McGahn has assembled a team of lawyers to oversee filling all judicial vacancies. Guided by McGahn's team, President Trump has already appointed ten appellate judges, the most this early in a presidency since Richard M. Nixon.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Savage|first1=Charlie|title=Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary. Here’s How.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/us/politics/trump-judiciary-appeals-courts-conservatives.html|publisher=New York Times|date=November 11, 2017}}</ref>
McGahn has assembled a team of lawyers to oversee filling all judicial vacancies. Guided by McGahn's team, President Trump has already appointed ten appellate judges, the most this early in a presidency since Richard M. Nixon.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Savage|first1=Charlie|title=Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary. Here’s How.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/us/politics/trump-judiciary-appeals-courts-conservatives.html|publisher=New York Times|date=November 11, 2017}}</ref>


An anonymous source has claimed McGahn reportedly conveyed instructions from President Trump to [[Jeff Sessions]], requesting the [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] not to [[Judicial disqualification|recuse]] himself from overseeing investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/politics/trump-sessions-russia-mcgahn.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur |title=Obstruction Inquiry Shows Trump’s Struggle to Keep Grip on Russia Investigation |first=Michael S. |last=Schmidt |date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=January 5, 2018 |publisher=''[[The New York Times]]'' |quote=President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election [...] But the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, carried out the president’s orders and lobbied Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode.}}</ref> In response to this, Walter Shaub, former director of the US Office of Government Ethics under President Obama, called McGahn "a cancer who has done much to undermine anticorruption mechanisms in this country." Shaub said, "It is a crime for a federal employee to participate in a particular matter in which he has a financial interest."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/05/politics/don-mcgahn-walter-shaub-cnntv/index.html Ex-ethics chief: White House counsel 'is a cancer'], By Daniella Diaz, CNN, January 5, 2018</ref>
An anonymous source has claimed McGahn reportedly conveyed instructions from President Trump to [[Jeff Sessions]], requesting the [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] not to [[Judicial disqualification|recuse]] himself from overseeing investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/politics/trump-sessions-russia-mcgahn.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur |title=Obstruction Inquiry Shows Trump’s Struggle to Keep Grip on Russia Investigation |first=Michael S. |last=Schmidt |date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=January 5, 2018 |publisher=''[[The New York Times]]'' |quote=President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election [...] But the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, carried out the president’s orders and lobbied Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode.}}</ref>.


==Personal life==
==Personal life==

Revision as of 22:23, 11 January 2018

Don McGahn
White House Counsel
Assumed office
January 20, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byNeil Eggleston
Member of the Federal Election Commission
In office
July 2008 – September 12, 2013
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byDavid M. Mason
Succeeded byLee E. Goodman
Personal details
Born (1968-06-16) June 16, 1968 (age 55)
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseShannon McGahn
Children2
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (BA)
Widener University (JD)
Georgetown University (L.L.M.)

Donald F. McGahn II (born June 16, 1968) is the current White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for U.S. President Donald Trump, serving since January 20, 2017. He is an American campaign finance lawyer, political operative, and a former Commissioner of the United States Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Early life and education

McGahn grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the son of Noreen (Rogan) and Donald F. McGahn,[1] and attended Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Atlantic City and Holy Spirit High School in nearby Absecon.[2] He attended the United States Naval Academy,[3] then received a BA in history and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame in 1991. He obtained his JD from Widener University School of Law in 1994 followed by a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center[4]

Career

Following his graduation from law school, McGahn worked in campaign finance law at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Patton Boggs.[5]

From 1999 to 2008, McGahn was chief counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).[6]

George W. Bush nominated McGahn as a Republican-selected member of the Federal Election Commission in 2008. He was confirmed on June 24, 2008 by the United States Senate and was sworn in shortly thereafter. He is credited as having played a crucial role in loosening regulations on campaign spending.[7][8] McGahn resigned from the FEC in September 2013.[9]

After leaving the FEC, McGahn returned to the law firm Patton Boggs.[6] In 2014 he moved to the law firm of Jones Day in Washington, D.C.[7]

McGahn served as Donald Trump's campaign counsel during his 2016 campaign for president.[6] McGahn managed all litigation involving Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign, and he successfully defeated numerous litigations and legal efforts to derail the campaign. Early in 2016, he stopped efforts to keep Trump off of the Republican primary ballot in New Hampshire by going to court and winning to ensure ballot access in a key primary state.[10] McGahn also assembled and oversaw the legal team that helped defeat the NeverTrump movement at the 2016 Republican National Convention, both in the RNC Rules Committee and on the convention floor.[11] Several weeks before the election, lawsuits were filed in four battleground states alleging voter intimidation and seeking to enjoin the Trump campaign from having observers at polling locations.[12] McGahn successfully managed and won these litigations.[13]

Shortly after Trump won election, he named McGahn General Counsel of the Presidential Transition Team. On November 25, 2016, McGahn was named White House Counsel for the President-elect's new administration.[14][15]

McGahn personally recommended Trump nominate Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch's first official interview with Trump staff was on January 5, 2017 when McGahn met with him in Trump Tower. Trump and McGahn met with him on January 14, 2017. McGahn called Gorsuch on January 27, 2017 to tell him that he had been selected as the nominee.[16] Gorsuch was sworn in on April 7, 2017.

McGahn also recommended the nomination of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. Acosta was sworn in on April 28, 2017.[17]

McGahn has assembled a team of lawyers to oversee filling all judicial vacancies. Guided by McGahn's team, President Trump has already appointed ten appellate judges, the most this early in a presidency since Richard M. Nixon.[18]

An anonymous source has claimed McGahn reportedly conveyed instructions from President Trump to Jeff Sessions, requesting the Attorney General not to recuse himself from overseeing investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.[19].

Personal life

McGahn is married to Shannon McGahn, Counselor to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin.[20] They have two sons.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Jean Quinn Rogan Obituary", Citizens' Voice via Legacy.com, May 19, 2014.
  2. ^ DeRosier, John. "Atlantic City native embroiled in Trump/Flynn controversy ", The Press of Atlantic City, May 17, 2017. Accessed November 15, 2017. "McGahn, a longtime Republican campaign lawyer and former commissioner at the Federal Election Commission, grew up in Atlantic City, attending Our Lady Star of the Sea school and Holy Spirit High School, where he played football."
  3. ^ "Donald F. McGahn Bio". Federal Elections Commission. United States Government.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Donald F. "Don" McGahn II". Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  5. ^ Mullins, Brody; Jacoby, Mary (October 29, 2008). "FEC Chairman McGahn Marches to His Own Tune". Wall Street Journal.
  6. ^ a b c d Levine, Carrie (May 9, 2016). "Two very different Donalds, one White House goal". Center for Public Integrity.
  7. ^ a b Terris, Ben (April 11, 2016). "Trump's own Beltway establishment guy: The curious journey of Don McGahn". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Roth, Zachary (March 23, 2016). "Trump's top lawyer helped open political spending floodgates". MSNBC.
  9. ^ Wilson, Reid (September 17, 2013). "Former FEC chairman Donald McGahn resigns from panel". The Washington Post.
  10. ^ Lichtblau, Eric (December 16, 2016). "In Donald McGahn, Donald Trump Gets a Combative White House Counsel". New York Times.
  11. ^ Detrow, Scott (July 15, 2016). "'Never Trump Is Nevermore': Anti-Trump Forces Fail To Force RNC Floor Fight". NPR.
  12. ^ Allegri, Carlo (October 21, 2016). "Trump Sued in 4 States for Voter Intimidation". Newsweek.
  13. ^ de Vogue, Ariane (August 7, 2016). "Supreme Court won't restore court order against Trump over poll-watching in Ohio". CNN.
  14. ^ Bender, Michael C.; Palazzolo, Joe (November 26, 2016). "Donald Trump Selects Donald McGahn as White House Counsel". Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^ Nancy Cook. ‘He’s Going to Be an Enabler’. Politico, 21 Feb 2017
  16. ^ Kim, Seung Min (February 26, 2017). "Gorsuch questionnaire reveals selection process details for SCOTUS nominee". Politico.
  17. ^ Cook, Nancy (May 6, 2017). "Trump's top lawyer faces a giant cleanup job". Politico.
  18. ^ Savage, Charlie (November 11, 2017). "Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary. Here's How". New York Times.
  19. ^ Schmidt, Michael S. (January 4, 2018). "Obstruction Inquiry Shows Trump's Struggle to Keep Grip on Russia Investigation". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2018. President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House's top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department's investigation into whether Mr. Trump's associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election [...] But the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, carried out the president's orders and lobbied Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Secretary of the Treasury Announces Senior Staff". U.S. Department of the Treasury. U.S. Department of the Treasury Press Center. Retrieved March 3, 2017.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by White House Counsel
2017–present 		Incumbent
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