Nov 16, 2018 · Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker today released the following statement: “Today marks the 25 th anniversary of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an important law protecting one of our most fundamental freedoms. RFRA was approved by Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the House unanimously and …
Feb 14, 2019 · Whitaker, a former US attorney who took over the Justice Department as acting attorney general last year after Jeff Sessions was ousted by President Donald Trump, can boast a heightened profile ...
Jan 28, 2019 · Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Announces National Security Related Criminal Charges Against Chinese Telecommunications Conglomerate Huawei. ... FBI and from our U.S. Attorney’s offices in both the Western District of Washington State and the Eastern District of New York. ... Department of Justice will protect them from criminals, no ...
Nov 14, 2018 · Updated at 12:53 p.m. ET. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's temporary appointment was legal, the Justice Department said in a memo on Wednesday — but it did not address whether he must ...
After leaving the Justice Department, Whitaker became a guest on news and analysis shows, and was affiliated with the law firm of Graves Garrett. In August 2019, he became a managing director at Axiom Strategies and Clout Public Affairs.
As all three branches of government have long recognized, the President may designate an acting official to perform the duties of a vacant principal office, including a Cabinet office, even when the acting official has not been confirmed by the Senate.Nov 14, 2018
The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
Marci WhitakerMatthew Whitaker / Spouse
Jeffrey A. RosenOfficial portrait, 2019Acting United States Attorney GeneralIn office December 24, 2020 – January 20, 2021PresidentDonald Trump27 more rows
It states that when the office of Attorney General is vacant, the Deputy Attorney General “may exercise all the duties of that office”; that when the office of Deputy Attorney General is vacant, the Associate Attorney General “shall act as Attorney General”; and that the Attorney General “may designate the Solicitor ...Sep 17, 2007
Appointment. The U.S. attorney is appointed by the President of the United States for a term of four years, with appointments subject to confirmation by the Senate. A U.S. attorney continues in office, beyond the appointed term, until a successor is appointed and qualified.
U.S. Attorneys are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and they serve terms of four years or at the President's discretion.
California Former Attorneys GeneralMatthew Rodriguez2021 – 2021John K. Van de Kamp1983 – 1991George Deukemejian1979 – 1983Evelle J. Younger1971 – 1979Thomas C. Lynch1964 – 197129 more rows
Jeff SessionsPresidentDonald TrumpDeputyDana Boente (acting) Rod RosensteinPreceded byLoretta LynchSucceeded byWilliam Barr33 more rows
William BarrPresidentGeorge H. W. BushPreceded byDonald B. AyerSucceeded byGeorge J. Terwilliger IIIUnited States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel30 more rows
During the months prior to joining the Justice Department as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff in September 2017, Whitaker made several statements critical of the Mueller investigation, of which he assumed oversight responsibility upon being appointed Acting Attorney General in November 2018.
Trump saw Whitaker's supportive commentaries on CNN in the summer of 2017, and in July White House counsel Don McGahn interviewed Whitaker to join Trump's legal team as an "attack dog" against Robert Mueller, who was heading the Special Counsel investigation. Trump associates believe Whitaker was later hired to limit the fallout of the investigation, including by reining in any Mueller report and preventing Trump from being subpoenaed. On November 13, a DOJ spokesperson said that Whitaker would seek advice from ethics officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) about whether a recusal from overseeing the Russia investigation was warranted.
They also said that it was a "close call" and his decision, but in their opinion he "should recuse himself because 'a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts' would question his impartiality due to the statements he had made to the press." Whitaker decided not to recuse himself, not wanting to be the first attorney general "who had recused [himself] based on statements in the news media."
One month prior to joining the Justice Department, he wrote an opinion column for CNN titled "Mueller's Investigation of Trump is Going Too Far".
Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the decision that allows judicial review of the constitutionality of the acts of the other branches of government, and several other Supreme Court holdings. When Whitaker later became acting Attorney General four years later, Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe commented on Whita ker's views that "the overall picture he presents would have virtually no scholarly support", and that they would be "'destabilizing' to society if he used the power of the attorney general to advance them".
Whitaker played in 33 games, including two bowl games, and made 21 receptions for a total of 203 yards, scoring two touchdowns. In 1993, he received the Big Ten Medal of Honor for proficiency in scholarship and athletics awarded each year to one male and one female student-athlete at each Big Ten Conference school.
While attending the University of Iowa, Whitaker played tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team, including in the 1991 Rose Bowl . In 2002, Whitaker was the candidate of the Republican Party for Treasurer of Iowa.
In reality, Huawei sold Skycom to itself.
Huawei allegedly lied about other relationships, as well. In 2017, when one bank decided to terminate its global banking relationship with Huawei over concern about risk, the company allegedly told other banks that Huawei was distancing itself from the bank—not the other way around.
The vacancy reform law suggests that Whitaker may remain in the position for 210 days.
But Whitaker was an open critic of the Russia investigation before he joined the government under Sessions, and he also has ties to at least one person who has been caught up in it — former Trump campaign official Sam Clovis.
Sessions recused himself because he had been part of the campaign. Rosenstein appointed Mueller to run that investigation after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey; Rosenstein had been supervising the Russia matter until Whitaker's appointment.
The Justice Department's legal counsel office said it identified at least 160 officials before 1860 who weren't confirmed by the Senate but who served as "principal officer" on a temporary basis.
Democrats also say they want to know more about Whitaker's role in what the Federal Trade Commission called a business "scam" last year; a number of House Democrats said Wednesday that they want more information about what Whitaker did for the company involved.
Critics call it "unconstitutional" because he wasn't confirmed by the Senate. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's appointment was legal, a Justice Department memo concluded on Wednesday. Critics call it "unconstitutional" because he wasn't confirmed by the Senate.
Whitaker was Sessions' chief of staff. And although the Justice Department has a Senate-confirmed No. 2 leader in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the law "does not displace the president's authority to use the Vacancies Reform Act as an alternative," the memo says.