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Matthew Whitaker (attorney)

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For other people named Matthew Whitaker, see Matthew Whitaker (disambiguation).
Matthew Whitaker
Matthew G. Whitaker official photo.jpg
United States Attorney General
Acting
Assumed office
November 7, 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyRod Rosenstein
Preceded byJeff Sessions
Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General
In office
September 22, 2017 – November 7, 2018
Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions
Preceded byJody Hunt
Succeeded byVacant
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
BornMatthew George Whitaker
(1969-10-29) October 29, 1969 (age 49)
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Iowa (BA, JD, MBA)

Matthew Whitaker (born October 29, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician serving as Acting United States Attorney General since November 7, 2018. He was appointed by President Donald Trump after Jeff Sessions resigned at Trump's request.[1] Whitaker served as a U.S. Attorney during the Bush Administration and served as Chief of Staff to Sessions from September 2017 to November 2018.[2]

In 2002, Whitaker was the Republican Party's candidate for Treasurer of Iowa. From 2004 to 2009 he was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. Whitaker ran in the 2014 Iowa Republican primary for United States Senate, finishing in fourth place. More recently, Whitaker wrote opinion pieces and appeared on talk-radio shows and cable news as director of a conservative nonprofit.

After Trump appointed Whitaker as Acting Attorney General a number of legal scholars, commentators, and politicians, called for him to recuse himself from overseeing Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in US elections, citing conflicts of interest on Whitaker's part, such as his previous statements about limiting the investigation as well as the fact that he was the campaign chairman for Sam Clovis, a witness in the investigation.

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.[3] During his undergraduate years at Iowa, Whitaker played tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team, appearing in Iowa's Rose Bowl game in 1991.[4][5]

Career

Whitaker in 2004

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.[6]

Whitaker ran as a Republican for Treasurer of Iowa in 2002. He lost to incumbent Democrat Michael Fitzgerald by 55% to 43%.[7]

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, a liberal Democrat, on charges of attempting to extort $2000. The jury took less than two hours to return a not guilty verdict.[8]

Whitaker's U.S. Attorney portrait

Whitaker resigned in November 2009 following the Senate confirmation of his replacement, Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, who was nominated by President Barack Obama.[4][9][10]

General practice and political activities

From 2009-2017, Whitaker was a managing partner of the small general practice law firm Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP (now Hagenow & Gustoff LLP).[11]

Whitaker was the co-chairman of Texas Governor Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign.[12]

Whitaker was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa, a seat being vacated by Democrat Tom Harkin. He came fourth in the Republican primary in June, with 11,909 votes (7.54%). The nomination was won by Joni Ernst, who went on to win the general election.[13] After losing the Republican primary, Whitaker chaired the campaign of Sam Clovis, another unsuccessful primary candidate who had been selected, later in June, to run for Iowa State Treasurer.[14] Clovis lost in the November 2014 general election.[15][16][17]

In 2014, Whitaker became a paid advisory board member for World Patent Marketing.[18] In March 2017, the Federal Trade Commission commenced litigation for fraud.[19][20] In May 2018, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered the company to pay more than $25 million and cease operations.[21] The company donated to Whitaker's 2014 Senate campaign.[22] He received $9,375 between 2014 and 2016 and was owed a further $7,500 at the time the FTC shut down the company.[23]

From October 2014 to September 2017, Whitaker was the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust,[24] and the organization's only full-time employee in 2015 and 2016.[25] FACT, founded in late 2014, is a conservative nonprofit organization specializing in legal and ethical issues related to politics.[26][27] The Washington Post reported in February 2015 that "The group is backed by $1 million in seed money from donors who support conservative legal causes", and that Whitaker had declined to identify the donors.[28] According to the organization's first tax return, its funding — $600,000 in 2014 - came from a conservative donor-advised fund called DonorsTrust, a pass-through vehicle that allows donors to remain anonymous.[29]

During Whitaker's tenure at FACT, the organization had a special focus on the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy and perceived favoritism in the business dealings of Clinton.[30] While the head of FACT, Whitaker wrote opinion pieces that appeared in USA Today and the Washington Examiner, and appeared regularly on conservative talk-radio shows and cable news.[31] For four months, from June to September 2017, he was a CNN contributor.[32]

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."[33] He stated that Mueller's investigation should be limited and should not probe into Trump's finances.[34]

Department of Justice

Chief of Staff

On September 22, 2017, a Justice Department official announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had appointed Whitaker to be his Chief of Staff.[35][36] 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.[37][38][39]

Acting Attorney General

President Trump had spoken with Whitaker in September 2018 about potentially assuming Jeff Sessions' role as Attorney General, although it was not clear whether Whitaker would take over on an interim basis or be nominated in a more permanent capacity.[40] At that time, The New York Times described Whitaker as a Trump loyalist who had frequently visited the Oval Office and as having "an easy chemistry" with Trump.[41]

With the resignation of Sessions on November 7, 2018, Whitaker was appointed to serve as Acting Attorney General under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.[3][42][43] With his appointment, Whitaker directly supervises Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation, which had previously been supervised by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.

Calls for recusal and legality of appointment

When Whitaker was appointed, legal experts, including NYU law professor Ryan Goodman and Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, demanded Whitaker recuse himself from supervising the investigation, citing potential conflicts of interest such as his previous criticism of the Special Counsel investigation and his ties to Sam Clovis who is a witness in the investigation.[44][45][46] NYU Law Professor Stephen Gillers, a leading legal ethics expert, says Whitaker "has no such legal or ethical obligation to step aside".[47] According people close to Whitaker, he does not have any intention to recuse.[48]

Lawyers Neal Katyal and George T. Conway III questioned the legality and constitutionality of the appointment based on the Appointments Clause.[49][50] Lawyers Renato Mariotti and Lawrence Tribe have argued that the Vacancies Act would not allow Trump to appoint Whitaker if Sessions was fired and that a court could conclude that Sessions did not resign but was fired.[43]

Electoral history

2002 Iowa State Treasurer

General election results[51]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael Fitzgerald 534,714 54.77%
Republican Matthew Whitaker 421,574 43.18%
Libertarian Tim Hird 19,687 2.02%
Republican Write-ins 344 0.04%
Total votes 976,319 100.00%

2014 U.S. Senator for Iowa

Republican primary results[52]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joni Ernst 88,535 56.12%
Republican Sam Clovis 28,418 18.01%
Republican Mark Jacobs 26,523 16.81%
Republican Matthew Whitaker 11,884 7.53%
Republican Scott Schaben 2,233 1.42%
Republican Write-ins 155 0.10%
Total votes 157,748 100.00%

References

  1. ^ "Jeff Sessions forced out as attorney general". CBS News. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren; Oprysko, Caitlyn (November 7, 2018). "Sessions ousted". POLITICO. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b "United States Attorney Announces Resignation". Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  5. ^ "2018 Football Roster - University of Iowa Hawkeyes". www.hawkeyesports.com. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  6. ^ "U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa, Matthew Whitaker biography". Archived from the original on 2004-11-19.
  7. ^ "2002 State Treasurer General Election Results - Iowa". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  8. ^ "State Sen. McCoy not guilty of extortion". Sioux City Journal. December 14, 2007. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefledt Sworn in this Morning".
  11. ^ "Who is Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. Attorney General?". Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  12. ^ Earl, Jennifer. Matthew Whitaker to replace Jeff Sessions as acting attorney general: 3 things to know, FOX News, November 7, 2018.
  13. ^ "GOP's Matt Whitaker says he's running for U.S. Senate". Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  14. ^ Obradovich, Kathie (June 30, 2014). "'Non-politician' Clovis drafted into new race". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  15. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (November 7, 2018). "What Sessions's Resignation Means for Robert Mueller". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  16. ^ "Top Trump campaign aide Clovis spoke to Mueller team, grand jury". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Marketing, World Patent. "Former Republican Candidate for the United States Senate Joins World Patent Marketing Advisory Board". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  19. ^ "World Patent Marketing". Federal Trade Commission. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ https://www.facebook.com/PostRoz. "Before he led the Justice Department, Matthew G. Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ Full access to WSJ article via Twitter: https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1060351218344714240
  24. ^ Zeitlin, Matthew. "The New Acting Attorney General Was Previously a Dark Money–Funded Clinton Antagonist". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  25. ^ Lanard, Noah (November 7, 2018). "Matthew Whitaker, the New Acting Attorney General, Was Obsessed With Clinton's Emails". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  26. ^ "Matthew Whitaker". Fox News. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  27. ^ "Conservative group calls for Grayson ethics probe". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  28. ^ Gold, Matea (February 20, 2015). "Conservative watchdog group accuses Democrats of illegally coordinating through voter data firm". Washington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  29. ^ Novak, Viveca; Massoglia, Anna (April 15, 2016). "New nonprofit tied to stealthy circle of dark money groups - OpenSecrets News". OpenSecrets News. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  30. ^ "Trump's new acting attorney general was obsessed with Clinton's emails". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  31. ^ Woodruff, Betsy; Tani, Maxwell; Sommer, Will (November 8, 2018). "Matthew Whitaker, Mueller's New Boss, Said There Was 'No Collusion' With Russia". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  32. ^ "Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker Was a CNN Contributor". The Hollywood Reporter. November 7, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  33. ^ Whitaker, Matthew. "Mueller's investigation of Trump is going too far". CNN. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ "Matt Whitaker Named AG's Chief of Staff". National Association of Former United States Attorneys. October 11, 2017.
  36. ^ 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.
  37. ^ 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.
  38. ^ 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.
  39. ^ Swan, Jonathan (September 9, 2018). "Scoop: Inside Trump's biggest hire". Axios. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  40. ^ 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.
  41. ^ "Matthew Whitaker, a Trump Loyalist, Is Seen as Ascendant Amid Rosenstein Chaos". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  42. ^ "Trump fires Jeff Sessions, names Matthew Whitaker as interim attorney general". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  43. ^ a b Stern, Mark Joseph (November 8, 2018). "Matthew Whitaker's Appointment as Acting Attorney General Is Almost Certainly Illegal". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  44. ^ "Jeff Sessions Is Forced Out as Attorney General as Trump Installs Loyalist". Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  45. ^ Breuninger, Kevin (8 November 2018). "Acting Attorney General Whitaker's views on Mueller probe prompt calls for his recusal". CNBC. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  46. ^ Gibson, Ginger (November 9, 2018). "Whitaker's friendship with Trump aide reignites recusal debate". Reuters. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  47. ^ Naham, Matt. Legal Expert: There Is ‘No Legal Ethics Issue Here’ That Would Force Matthew Whitaker to Recuse Himself, Law & Crime, November 7, 2018.
  48. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Zapotosky, Matt; Dawsey, Josh (8 November 2018). "Acting attorney general Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself from Russia probe, associates say". Washington Post. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  49. ^ Katyal, Neal K. and Conway III, George T. (November 8, 2018). "Trump's Appointment of the Acting Attorney General Is Unconstitutional". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  50. ^ "Why Trump could face legal challenges over Whitaker". Axios. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  51. ^ "State of Iowa Canvass Summary - ELECTION: 2002 General Election (11/5/2002)" (PDF). December 2, 2002. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  52. ^ "2014 Primary Election Canvass Summary" (PDF). Iowa Secretary of State. Des Moines, Iowa: State of Iowa. Retrieved November 9, 2018.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Stephen Patrick O'Meara 		United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
2004–2009 		Succeeded by
Nicholas A. Klinefeldt
Preceded by
Jeff Sessions 		United States Attorney General
Acting
2018–present 		Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
James Mattis
as Secretary of Defense 		Order of Precedence of the United States
as Acting Attorney General 		Succeeded by
Ryan Zinke
as Secretary of the Interior
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