Meet Don McGahn, White House Counsel, Protector of Big Money in Politics

If you have ever wondered why the flow of big money in politics has exploded despite bipartisan efforts, with every loophole exploited and no action by the Federal Election Commission, look no further than Don McGahn, the new White House counsel, who has fought for years to prevent rules against big money in politics long before the Supreme Court blessed the idea.  

In just five years (since July 2008), McGahn ground the FEC to a slow crawl, with fewer disciplinary actions and fines at a time when 501(c)4s and super PACs flooded the political system with dark money. To longtime staffers, former FEC officials, and campaign finance and good-government experts, McGahn’s tenure seemed like part of a broader Republican-sanctioned strategy to defang the agency.  “It was pretty clear what he thought of the agency—that he did not believe it should exist,” one former FEC staffer says. 

“Everyone in Washington knows that if you have a problem, Don McGahn is the person to call,” said David Bossie, the president of Citizens United, the conservative group that spurred the landmark Supreme Court campaign finance decision of the same name.  Mr. Bossie said he had first suggested to Mr. Trump nearly two years ago that he use Mr. McGahn as his campaign lawyer if he decided to run for president. 

His clients have included Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader from Texas, who resigned in 2006 under indictment and a cloud of ethics charges; Bob Ney, a former Ohio congressman imprisoned in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal; and, this year, Aaron Schock, the former Illinois congressman who redesigned his congressional office in a “Downton Abbey” style and was indicted last month on charges of misspending about $100,000. 

If his record is any guide, Mr. McGahn will be a fierce proponent of the president’s executive authority to operate independently on a wide range of issues.  His fingerprints can already be seen in a number of positions, for instance, Trump’s assertion he could maintain control of his business if he chose to because “the law is totally on my side, meaning the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” 

Ann M. Ravel, a Democratic commissioner with the Federal Election Commission, said she found it “shocking” that Mr. McGahn would be the president’s top legal adviser. “His record indicates that he’s not particularly concerned about conflicts or ethics issues,” she said.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/donald-trump-white-house-counsel-donald-mcgahn.html

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/trump-mcgahn-white-house-lawyer-214801

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