Pat Cipollone
White House Counsel
In office
December 10, 2018 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byEmmet Flood (Acting)
Succeeded byDana Remus
Personal details
Born
Pasquale Anthony Cipollone

(1966-05-06) May 6, 1966
New York City, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseRebecca Thelen
Children10
EducationFordham University (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone[1] (born May 6, 1966)[2] is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for President Donald Trump. While in office he defended Trump in his first impeachment trial and objected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Early life

Cipollone's father was an Italian immigrant and factory worker; his mother was a homemaker. He spent most of his childhood in the Bronx.[3] The family moved to Northern Kentucky, where he graduated from Covington Catholic High School in 1984.[4] He graduated as class valedictorian from Fordham University in 1988, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political philosophy.[3] He enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, where he was managing editor of the University of Chicago Law Review, earning a Juris Doctor in 1991.[5]

Cipollone was a law clerk for Judge Danny Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati, Ohio) from 1991 to 1992, and served as an assistant to Attorney General William P. Barr from 1992 to 1993.[6]

He was a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, and prior to taking over as White House Counsel was a partner at Stein, Mitchell, Cipollone, Beato & Missner, where he practiced commercial litigation.[7] His clients included President Donald Trump, Radio Ingraham LLC, and Sony Entertainment.[8]

As of July 2022, Cipollone was a named partner of the Los Angeles law firm Ellis George Cipollone O'Brien Annaguey LLP d/b/a Ellis George Cipollone.[9]

Cipollone's financial disclosure reported an income of $6.7 million in 2017–2018.[8][10][11]

White House Counsel

Cipollone was named White House Counsel by President Donald Trump in October 2018.[12][13] He succeeded Don McGahn who left office on October 17, 2018.[14] Emmet Flood served as counsel until Cipollone's background security check was completed.[15][16] Cipollone officially assumed the role on December 10, 2018.[17]

In his role as White House Counsel, Cipollone was the public face of the White House response to the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. In October 2019, he signed an eight-page letter to Democratic House leaders stating that the White House would not cooperate in any way with the inquiry. He laid out a broad view of executive authority and said that Democrats' actions violate "the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent".[18][3] This letter has been cited as evidence for the charge that President Trump was obstructing the House's impeachment inquiry.[19]

In December 2019, Cipollone wrote two letters in response to an invitation from Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, for the White House or Trump himself to participate in its hearings. He said the White House and Trump would not participate because the planned hearings do not "provide the president with any semblance of a fair process" and the inquiry is "completely baseless".[20][21]

On January 14, 2020, Cipollone was named to the team of attorneys representing President Donald Trump in the impeachment hearing case.[22]

On January 31, 2020, it was reported that Cipollone was present at a May 2019 White House meeting where President Trump directed his national security adviser John Bolton to "extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials."[23]

Objections to Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud

In January 2021, Cipollone was present at a White House meeting where he reportedly argued against a proposal to replace acting attorney general Jeffrey A. Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, the acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Division. Clark, unlike Rosen, was willing to pursue Trump's claims of election fraud and help Trump overturn the 2020 election results. Specifically, Clark wanted to send a letter to Georgia state legislators urging them to void Biden's win in their state, and Cipollone strongly objected to this. One official later said, "Pat pretty much saved Rosen's job that day."[24]

While Trump pursued schemes to stay in power that led to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Cipollone and members of his team threatened to resign on principle. On March 31, 2022, Jared Kushner told the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack that he had been aware of Cipollone's objections but that he had dismissed and ignored them as mere "whining". The tape of Kushner's interview was revealed at the committee's first public hearing on June 9, 2022.[25]

January 6 committee hearings

Cipollone's comments and actions during his final days as Trump's White House Counsel have played a key role in the January 6 committee hearings, specifically the committee's sixth hearing.

On June 28, 2022, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Cipollone discussed potential criminal legal exposure for Trump's planned rally on January 6. "Pat was concerned it would look like we were obstructing justice or obstructing the Electoral College count", she testified, "that it would look like we were obstructing what was happening on Capitol Hill."[26] Obstructing an official proceeding is a felony under U.S. law, and as part of a dispute with John Eastman, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled with the committee, stating "the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress."[27]

"We had conversations about potentially obstructing justice or defrauding the electoral count", Hutchinson testified about discussions with Cipollone. Carter's ruling also cited "conspiracy to defraud the United States", by circumventing the Electoral Count Act.

Hutchinson testified to being present for dramatic conversations between Cipollone and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on January 6, with Hutchinson quoting Cipollone as saying "Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and the blood is going to be on your f'ing hands." Hutchinson quoted Cipollone as saying, "Mark, we need to do something more. They're literally calling for the vice president to be f'ing hung", with Meadows responding "you heard [the president], Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong."[26]

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney repeatedly called for Cipollone to testify before the committee, saying a week before Hutchinson's testimony “our evidence shows that Pat Cipollone and his office tried to do what was right" and spoke for the committee stating "we think the American people deserve to hear from Mr. Cipollone personally. He should appear before this committee."[28] Cipollone's distant predecessor as White House Counsel, John Dean, a former Republican who had served in the Nixon administration during the Watergate scandal, called on Cipollone to follow his example and testify about Trump to Congress.[29] Cipollone was issued a public subpoena to testify before the committee the day after Hutchinson's testimony.[30] Cipollone complied with the subpoena, meeting with the committee for a videotaped deposition on July 8.[31]

On August 2, 2022, Cipollone was subpoenaed by the Justice Department as part of its investigation into the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[32]

Personal life

Cipollone is a Roman Catholic, a founding member of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and a board member of the Catholic Information Center.[33] Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham credited Cipollone with helping her convert to Catholicism in 2002.[34][35][36] He has ten children.[37] One of Cipollone's daughters worked as a booker for The Ingraham Angle.[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Laviola, Erin (January 21, 2020). "Pat Cipollone's Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com.
  2. ↑ Haberman, Maggie (January 17, 2020). "Pat Cipollone: White House Counsel Who Will Help Lead Trump Legal Team". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Williamson, Elizabeth (October 9, 2019). "As White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone Builds Case for Defiance on Impeachment". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ Williams, Jason (January 23, 2019). "Who knew? Trump's top White House attorney is Covington Catholic High School graduate". Cincinnati Enquirer.
  5. ↑ "Pat A. Cipollone Executive Profile". Bloomberg News. S&P Global. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ Salama, Vivian (October 13, 2018). "Trump Likely to Name Pat Cipollone as Next White House Counsel". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Pat Cipollone profile". Stein, Mitchell, Cipollone, Beato & Missner. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Scarcella, Mike (April 22, 2019). "White House Counsel Pat Cipollone's Financial Disclosure Shows $6.7M Income". National Law Journal. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Ellis George Cipollone O'Brien Annaguey LLP". egcfirm.com. Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey LLP. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Cipollone, Pat_2019 New Entrant_Under WH Review.pdf" (PDF). citizensforethics.org. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  11. ↑ Choma, Russ (December 13, 2019). "Why can't the top White House lawyer get his financial disclosure approved?". Mother Jones.
  12. ↑ Perez, Evan (October 13, 2018). "Trump to name Pat Cipollone as White House counsel". CNN. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Read the transcript of AP's interview with President Trump". AP NEWS. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  14. ↑ Schmidt, Michael S.; Haberman, Maggie (October 17, 2018). "McGahn, Soldier for Trump and Witness Against Him, Leaves White House". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  15. ↑ de Vogue, Ariane (October 18, 2018). "Don McGahn out as White House counsel, sources say". CNN. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  16. ↑ Betz, Bradford (October 18, 2018). "Don McGahn leaves as White House counsel, Emmet Flood steps into role". Fox News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  17. ↑ Easley, Jonathan (December 10, 2018). "The Hill's Morning Report — Trump shakes up staff with eye on 2020, Mueller probe". The Hill. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  18. ↑ Cipollone, Pat (October 8, 2019). "Letter to House leadership" (PDF). Office of White House Counsel. Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via The Washington Post.
  19. ↑ Freifeld, Karen (January 21, 2020). "White House lawyer in Trump trial is both defender and key witness to events". Reuters.
  20. ↑ Cochrane, Emily (December 1, 2019). "Trump's Lawyers Won't Participate in Impeachment Hearing on Wednesday". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  21. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Fandos, Nicholas (December 6, 2019). "White House Signals Trump Won't Mount House Impeachment Defense". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  22. ↑ O'Reilly, Andrew (January 14, 2020). "Trump's impeachment trial team: Who are the lawyers defending the president?". Fox News. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  23. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (January 31, 2020). "Trump Told Bolton to Help His Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Book Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  24. ↑ Zapotosky, Matt; Barrett, Devlin; Leonnig, Carol D. (January 23, 2021). "Trump entertained plan to install an attorney general who would help him pursue baseless election fraud claims". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  25. ↑ Haberman, Maggie (June 10, 2022). "Jared and Ivanka, Without the Power or the Masks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  26. 1 2 "Here's every word from the sixth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation". NPR. June 28, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  27. ↑ Blitzer, Ronn (March 28, 2022). "Federal judge says Trump 'likely' violated federal obstruction statute". Fox News. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  28. ↑ Samuels, Brett (June 21, 2022). "Cheney calls on ex-White House lawyer to testify before Jan. 6 panel". The Hill. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Hear John Dean's direct message to ex-Trump White House lawyer - CNN Video". CNN. June 21, 2022.
  30. ↑ Jacqueline Alemany; Josh Dawsey (June 30, 2022). "Jan. 6 committee subpoenas former White House counsel Pat Cipollone". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  31. ↑ Broadwater, Luke; Haberman, Maggie (July 9, 2022). "Jan. 6 Panel Questions Cipollone on Pardons and Trump's Election Claims". New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  32. ↑ Faulders, Katherine; Santucci, John; Mallin, Alexander (August 3, 2022). "Ex-White House counsel subpoenaed by federal grand jury investigating Jan. 6 attack". ABC News. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  33. ↑ Laviola, Erin (October 14, 2018). "Pat Cipollone: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". heavy.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  34. ↑ Leonnig, Carol D. (October 13, 2018). "Trump has chosen Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone as next White House counsel, people familiar with decision say". Washington Post. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Q&A with Laura Ingraham". C-SPAN. December 5, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  36. ↑ Roberts, Judy (February 29, 2004). "How Radio Star Talked Her Way Into the Church". NCR. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  37. ↑ Ordoñez, Franco (December 23, 2019). "Trump Impeachment Trial Turns Spotlight On White House Lawyer Cipollone". NPR.
  38. ↑ Strickler, Andrew (May 22, 2019). "Former Stein Mitchell Partner Touted as White House Counsel Problem Solver". Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
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