Why should it surprise anyone that the lawyer chosen by President-elect Donald Trump should be someone who, as the New York Times says, is an iconoclast who likes to shake things up.
It should be a marriage made in heaven.
McGahn has a rebellious personality to match his new boss and has found himself propelled into a major position of influence in the Trump White House that will create a power attorney position that exceeds anything he’s done before.
A former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, had been the chief counsel of the Trump campaign and was one of the few members of the Republican establishment to sign on with the Trump roller coaster – but the bet has paid off.
An Atlanta City-born lawyer who has served as counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee for years, he is also a rock bank guitarist and legal identity in his own right.
While Trump during his campaign frequently promised to “drain the swamp” of the political establishment in Washington, McGahn has an extensive history in the capital, especially in conservative politics, Reuters report.
McGahn was an advocate for loosening restrictions on campaign spending and was widely praised for opening up more of the commission’s internal processes to the public.
So what are the main issues McGahn will need to deal with? Let’s start with five:
- The incredibly murky area of how Donald Trump deals with his globe-girdling business interests and avoid a conflict with his presidential duties.
- The appointment of the next Supreme Court justice.
- The precise role that Trump’s children should or could play in the White House.
- To what extent he should overturn executive orders made by the Obama administration.
- The Trump White House’s ability to impose tariffs on US companies that move abroad.
There will be many others too. But for the 48 year old Jones Day lawyer who specialises in campaign finance and election law, his name will become more household than he might ever have imagined.
What Jones Day’s Website Profile Says:
Don McGahn advises and represents elected officials, candidates, national state parties, political consultants, and others on political law issues.
Don served as a commissioner and chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). During his time at the FEC, Don led what has been called a “revolution” in campaign finance. He rewrote virtually all of the FEC’s procedures for audits, enforcement matters, and advisory opinions, which provide for an unprecedented amount of due process.
Several opinions authored by Don represent the current state of law regarding issues such as coordination, issue advocacy, campaign travel, political party programs, and emerging technologies.
Don has counseled and defended federal and state candidates, members of Congress, national and state political party committees, leadership political action committees (PACs), corporations and corporate PACs, nonprofits, trade associations, and political consultants. Campaign-related representations have included the regulation of broadcast television and radio, direct mail, telephones, defamation, polling, ballot access, voter identification, get-out-the-vote, election contests and recounts, election day operations, and party conventions. Prior to joining Jones Day in 2014, Don had one of the first successful defenses of a so-called 527 issue group against an FEC enforcement action. He also successfully defended members of Congress before the FEC. In addition, he served as general counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) for nearly 10 years, where he introduced several innovations, including what has become the standard structure for making independent expenditures.
