Lawyer for Trump Allies Is Pick for Justice’s No. 3 Post (2)

President Donald Trump intends to nominate Stanley Woodward, an attorney who represented the president’s allies in investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and his handling of classified records, to be the Justice Department’s third-ranking official.

If confirmed as associate attorney general, Woodward would join other high-ranking DOJ officials who entered their role after representing Trump or his allies. Attorney General Pam Bondi represented Trump during his first impeachment by the US House and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche served as his defense attorney in criminal cases relating to the 2020 election, his handling of classified documents, and alleged hush-money payments.

Woodward joined the White House in January as an assistant to the president and senior counselor. A former counsel at the law firm Akin Gump, heran his own Washington law firm since 2020, according to his Linkedin profile.

Woodward’s firm advised figures including Dan Scavino, the president’s former deputy chief of staff, in a House committee’s investigation of the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack. Woodward also represented Walt Nauta, a former White House aide indicted on federal charges in connection to Trump’s possession of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago.

The Justice Department revealed Trump’s plans to nominate Woodward in a Wednesday statement.

Trump also plans to tap Ohio Solicitor General T. Elliot Gaiser to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, a key outpost within the department that provides advice to the president and drafts legal opinions for the attorney general.

Office of Legal Counsel Pick

The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel has historically played an influential role in policies pushed by the president and attorney general. Leaders in the office review executive orders proposed or issued by the White House and review orders and regulations that demand the attorney general’s approval.

By the end of March, Trump had signed 109 executive orders, according to Ballotpedia, the highest first-year total since Harry Truman in 1945. The actions include orders to ban birthright citizenship and transgender military service members, efforts that have each been blocked by courts.

A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Gaiser clerked for Justice Samuel Alito during the 2021-2022 Supreme Court term, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also was an associate at Jones Day before taking the post as Ohio’s solicitor general in November 2023, a role where he represents the state in matters before appellate courts.

Gaiser represented Ohio in multiple cases in state and federal courts since his appointment, on topics ranging from gun restrictions to employment bias to transgender care for minors. Last month, he argued in front of the full US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on behalf of his office and 22 other state attorneys general against a school district’s policy that prohibits the bullying of transgender students.

His name come up dozens of times in a deposition former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany gave to a congressional subcommittee investigating the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021. McEnany described Gaiser as “the person who I trusted most as it came to constitutional law.”

Gaiser will remain in his current role until he is confirmed, said a spokeswoman for his boss, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.