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Jay Sekulow
| Jay Sekulow | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | American Center for Law and Justice (As of June 2017) |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Education: | •B.A. Mercer University •J.D. Mercer University •Ph.D. Regent University |
| Website: | Official website |
Jay Sekulow is an American attorney and broadcaster. As of June 2017, Sekulow was the chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and a member of President Donald Trump's personal legal team.[1][2]
As of June 2017, Sekulow also hosted the radio program Jay Sekulow Live![1]
Career
Education
Jay Sekulow earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree from Mercer University. He earned a Ph.D. from Regent University, having written a dissertation on American legal history.[1]
Legal career
Early career
After earning his law degree, Jay Sekulow served as a trial tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After leaving the IRS, Sekulow entered private practice in Georgia. In 1986, Sekulow joined Jews for Jesus as general legal counsel. He left Jews for Jesus to form the organization Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism.[3]
American Center for Law and Justice
In 1990, Sekulow joined the American Center for Law and Justice, where he served as chief counsel as of June 2017.[3] The American Center for Law and Justice is the legal arm of the organization Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, which, according to his personal website, Sekulow founded.[4][3] According to the ACLJ website, the organization's purpose is "to engage legal, legislative, and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education and litigation to ensure that those rights are protected under law."[4] As of June 2017, Sekulow had tried twelve cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, most of which involved religious liberty issues.[1]
Media career
As of June 2017, Jay Sekulow hosted the program Jay Sekulow Live!, which was carried by approximately 850 radio stations. He also hosted a weekly television program called ACLJ This Week. Sekulow has been a contributor for television outlets and newspapers including Fox News, MSNBC, The Washington Post and the New York Times. Sekulow also authored a book entitled Rise of ISIS, A Threat We Can't Ignore.[1]
Legal team for President Donald Trump
Impeachment of President Donald Trump
- See also: Impeachment of Donald Trump
On February 5, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) was acquitted of abuse of power by a vote of 52-48 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 53-47.[5]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) first announced the House would pursue an inquiry into Trump on September 24, 2019, following allegations that Trump requested the Ukrainian government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for aid.[6]
Trump denied the allegations and called the inquiry "the worst witch hunt in political history."[7][8]
Following weeks of public hearings, the House voted to impeach Trump on December 18, 2019, charging him with abuse of power by a vote of 230-197 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 229-198.[9] For a breakdown of the U.S. House votes by representative and party, click here.
Sekulow was chosen to co-lead Trump’s defense team during the impeachment trial alongside White House counsel Pat Cipollone.[10] Prior to the impeachment proceedings, Sekulow worked on the personal legal team for President Trump as part of the investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[11]
Obstruction of justice investigation
On June 18, 2017, Sekulow denied that the president was being investigated for obstruction of justice charges for firing former FBI Director James Comey in an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.[12]
Wallace asked Sekulow if Trump thought that Rod Rosenstein had done anything wrong. Sekulow replied, “The president has never said anything about Rod Rosenstein doing anything wrong." He continued, "And now he's being investigated by the Department of Justice because the special counsel under the special counsel relations reports still to the Department of Justice. Not an independent counsel. So he's being investigated for taking the action that the attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended him to take by the agency who recommended the termination.”[12]
In response, Wallace observed that Sekulow had just stated that Trump was under investigation. Sekulow denied the observation, stating, “We have not received nor are we aware of any investigation of the president of the United States, period." He added that he was discussing a possible legal theory. “If, in fact, it was correct that the president was being investigated, he would be investigating for taking action that an agency told him to take. So that is protected under the Constitution as his article one power. That's all I said.”[12]
See also
- American Center for Law and Justice
- Donald Trump
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 American Center for Law and Justice, "Jay Sekulow," accessed June 16, 2017
- ↑ Politico, "Trump hires another high-profile lawyer as special counsel probe heats up," accessed June 16, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 JaySekulow.com, "Education and Early Career," accessed June 16, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Center for Law and Justice, "Home," accessed June 16, 2017
- ↑ CNN, "Trump acquitted at impeachment trial," February 5, 2020
- ↑ CBS News, "Pelosi launches formal Trump impeachment inquiry," September 25, 2019
- ↑ White House, "Remarks by President Trump and President Salih of Iraq Before Bilateral Meeting," September 24, 2019
- ↑ Associated Press, "The Latest: Democrats say Trump allegations are impeachable," September 24, 2019
- ↑ NBC News, "Trump impeached by the House for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress," December 18, 2019
- ↑ The New York Times, "In Jay Sekulow, Trump Taps Longtime Loyalist for Impeachment Defense," January 17, 2020
- ↑ Tennessee Star, "Franklin resident Jay Sekulow joins Trump's legal team," accessed June 16, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Washington Post, "Trump’s lawyer’s very bad and contradictory Sunday, annotated," June 19, 2017
