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Patrick F. Philbin

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Patrick Philbin
Deputy White House Counsel
In office
February 2019 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
LeaderPat Cipollone
Succeeded byStuart F. Delery
Danielle Conley
Jonathan Su
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
EducationYale University(BA)
Harvard University(JD)
University of Cambridge(Dipl.)

Patrick F. Philbinis an American lawyer who served as Deputy Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President in theOffice of White House Counselin theDonald J. Trumpadministration.[1]He previously served in the Department of Justice during theGeorge W. Bushadministration.[2]: 27 

Academics

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Philbin is a graduate of theRoxbury Latin Schoolin Boston, Massachusetts.[3]He holds a B.A. in History fromYale Universitywhere he graduatedsumma cum laudein 1989 and was a member ofPhi Beta Kappa.[4]He received his J.D. fromHarvard Law Schoolin 1992,[2]: 27 magna cum laude,where he was executive editor of theHarvard Law Review.[4][5]In addition, he received a Diploma in Legal Studies from theUniversity of Cambridgein 1995.[4]

Career

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Philbin first served as a law clerk for Federal Appeals Court JudgeLaurence Silberman.[6]Next he worked as a clerk forSupreme CourtJusticeClarence Thomas.[2]: 27 Following his clerkships, Philbin entered private practice in theWashington, D.C.office ofKirkland & Ellis LLP.[4][2]: 27 

During the Bush Administration, Philbin served as a political appointee in the Department of Justice, first as a deputy assistant attorney general in theOffice of Legal Counselfrom 2001 to 2003 and then as an associate deputy attorney general in theOffice of the Deputy Attorney Generalfrom 2003 to 2005.[7][4][8][2]: 27 Philbin was one of the lawyers who helped counselPresidentBush that as head of theUnited States' Government executive branch,the president had the authority to chargeGuantanamo captivesbeforemilitary commissions[6](see the Legal opinions section of theWikipedia article on John Yoo).

During the Bush administration, Philbin reviewed theTorture Memosand raised concerns withJohn YooandJay Bybeeabout their contents.[9]An investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility concluded that Philbin did not commit any professional misconduct and appropriately raised his concerns about the shortcomings of the Bybee opinion.[2]: 257–258 

According toJames Comey,Acting Attorney General at the time, Philbin was present in March 2004 when Comey rushed toJohn Ashcroft's hospital bed to try to prevent other Bush officials – White House Chief of StaffAndy Cardand the man who was then White House counsel,Alberto Gonzales– from persuading the very sick Attorney General to reverse Comey's decision as Acting Attorney General to not approve renewal of the controversialwarrantless wiretapprogram during thewar on terror.[10][11]Philbin was "one of the people who started the legal review of the spying program that concluded the program was illegal", and Comey testified that Philbin's career suffered for his support of Comey's intervention between Gonzales and Ashcroft; according to Comey,Vice PresidentDick Cheneyblocked Philbin's appointment to the position ofPrincipal Deputy Solicitor General,denying him the honor of working on behalf of the government before theSupreme Court.[12][7]

Philbin returned to private practice in 2005,[2]: 27 returning as a partner toKirkland & Ellis,where he focused on appellate litigation, complex litigation, and data security.[4][2]: 27 In 2019, Philbin was appointed as Deputy Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President in theOffice of White House Counselin the Trump Administration.[1]In 2020, he was appointed to the defense team that represented President Trump in thefirst Senate impeachment trial.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abWhite House Staff (February 2, 2019)."President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President".whitehouse.gov.RetrievedFebruary 18,2019– viaNational Archives.
  2. ^abcdefghDepartment of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility(July 29, 2009).Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel's Memoranda Concerning Issues Relating to the Central Intelligence Agency's Use of "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" on Suspected Terrorists(PDF)(Report).United States Department of Justice.RetrievedMay 29,2017.
  3. ^"Trump impeachment trial lawyer Patrick Philbin has Mass. ties".BostonGlobe.January 30, 2020.RetrievedAugust 16,2022.
  4. ^abcdefPhilbin, Patrick F."Patrick F. Philbin, P.C.—Partner Profile".Washington, D.C.: Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2018.[third-party source needed]
  5. ^In his final year of law school, Philbin contributed a Note to theHarvard Law Reviewregarding medieval covenants. SeePhilbin, Patrick (1992). "Proving the Will of Another: The Specialty Requirement in Covenant".Harvard Law Review.105(8): 2001–2020.doi:10.2307/1341555.JSTOR1341555.Authorship is not shown on the cited web page, but was verified by a separateJSTORsearch.
  6. ^abMarcus, Ruth(May 25, 2007)."The legal terror of executive power".Albany Times Union.RetrievedMay 26,2007.
  7. ^abLattman, Peter (May 18, 2007)."The U.S. Attorney Mess: Spotlight on Patrick Philbin".Wall Street Journal.RetrievedFebruary 18,2019.
  8. ^Bloomberg Staff."Bloomberg Profile: Patrick F. Philbin".New York, NY: Bloomberg LLP.RetrievedJanuary 30,2020.[better source needed]
  9. ^Eviatar, Daphne (April 25, 2010)."Who Told Yoo To Do Those 'Bad Things'?".RetrievedJanuary 31,2020.
  10. ^Auchenbach, Joel (May 16, 2007)."Waterboarding Ashcroft".Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon September 7, 2008.RetrievedMay 23,2007.
  11. ^Taylor, Stuart Jr. (May 22, 2007)."Another Gonzales Horror Story".The Atlantic.RetrievedJanuary 31,2020.
  12. ^Shapiro, Ari (June 7, 2007)."Cheney Blocks DOJ Official's Promotion: Document".NPR.org.RetrievedFebruary 18,2019.
  13. ^O'Reilly, Andrew (January 14, 2020)."Trump's impeachment trial team: Who are the lawyers defending the president?".Fox News.RetrievedJanuary 15,2020.

Further reading

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