Jay Sekulow | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Sekulow at CPAC 2012 | |
| Born | Jay Alan Sekulow (1956-06-10)June 10, 1956 (age 68) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Mercer University (BA,JD) Regent University (PhD) |
| Occupation | Civil attorney of theAmerican Center for Law & Justice |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingJordan |
| Website | jaysekulow |
Jay Alan Sekulow (/ˈsɛkjəˌloʊ/; born June 10, 1956) is an American lawyer, radio, televisiontalk show host and politicallyconservative media personality.[1] He has been chief counsel of theAmerican Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) since 1991.[2] As a member of PresidentDonald Trump's legal team, he served as lead outside counsel for Trump'sfirst impeachment trial in the United States Senate.[1][3]
Sekulow built a legal and media business over a thirty-year period by representing conservative, religious, andanti-abortion groups. He hosts a syndicated radio show and is a frequent guest commentator on theChristian Broadcasting Network and theFox News Channel television networks.[2]
Jay Alan Sekulow was born inBrooklyn, New York, to Natalie (née Wortman) and Stanley Sekulow.[4][5][6]
Sekulow was raised onLong Island, in the town ofJericho.[7] He came from a Jewish family, attendedHebrew school, and had abar mitzvah.[7][8] While in high school, Sekulow moved with his family toAtlanta, where he graduated fromLakeside High School, then earned a B.A. in 1977 and aJ.D. fromMercer University in 1980.[9] While attendingAtlanta Baptist College (now the Atlanta campus of Mercer University), Sekulow encounteredJews for Jesus, became interested inChristianity, and converted toMessianic Judaism.[7][10] Sekulow earned aPh.D. fromRegent University in 2004, writing hisdissertation on the influence of religion onSupreme Court justices and their opinions.[citation needed]
After graduating from law school, Sekulow worked at theInternal Revenue Service (IRS)[11] as a prosecutor with the tax litigation division[10] for "about 18 months."[12]
In 1982,[12] he opened a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia, with former Mercer classmate Stuart J. Roth[12] which soon evolved into a business buying, renovating, and selling historic properties as a tax shelter for wealthy investors.[10][11][13] IRS regulations changed in the mid-eighties, and the firm collapsed when investors sued the owners for fraud and securities violations.[10][11][13] Sekulow and Roth filed forChapter 7 bankruptcy relief in 1987,[14] with Sekulow listing $13 million in liabilities and $638,000 in assets,[10] and leaving "a trail of angry investors and employees."[13]
In 1987 Sekulow became general counsel forJews for Jesus.[15] In 1988 he founded the nonprofit group Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE)[15][16] whose president he is and whose board members are him, his wife, and their two sons.[17][18]
In 1992, Sekulow became the director of the ACLJ, where he was chief counsel and principal officer in 2018.[19] In the early 1990s he also joined the faculty atRegent University Law School.[7][20]
Sekulow is half-owner of the for-profit professional corporation Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, P.C., incorporated in 2003, whose governor and executive officer is Roth.[18][21][11] From 2011 to 2016, the ACLJ paid the group $23 million, "its largest outside expense."[18]
Sekulow owns Regency Productions, the company that produces his radio show and was paid $11.3 million by the two charities for production services between 2000 and 2017.[17]
Sekulow hostsJay Sekulow Live!, asyndicated daily radio program broadcast onterrestrial radio, andXM andSirius satellite radios. This live call-in program focuses on legal and legislative topics.[22] Sekulow is the host ofACLJ This Week, a weekly television news program broadcast onTrinity Broadcasting Network[23] and Daystar.
Beginning in 2017, Sekulow served as a personal attorney to President Donald Trump during theinvestigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and investigations byCongressional committees into the myriadlinks between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies.[1][2][3]
Sekulow also served as lead outside counsel for Trump during hisimpeachment proceedings in 2019 and 2020.[1] He made several allegedly false statements on the Senate floor during thefirst Trump impeachment trial.[24][25][26][27]
Sekulow also represented Trump confidant and Fox News hostSean Hannity during the investigation by theHouse Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[28]
In November 2005,Legal Times published an article which alleged that Sekulow "through the ACLJ and a string of interconnectednonprofit andfor-profit entities, has built a financial empire that generates millions of dollars a year and supports a lavish lifestyle—complete with multiple homes,chauffeur-driven cars, and a private jet that he once used to ferry Supreme Court JusticeAntonin Scalia." In the article, former donors and supporters claimed that Sekulow engaged in a pattern ofself-dealing to finance his "high-flying lifestyle." According to a ranking by theAmerican Institute of Philanthropy, a charitywatchdog group, Sekulow was the thirteenth highest-paid executive of acharitable organization in the United States.[8]
ACLJ's and CASE'stax returns show that between 1998 and 2011, they paid more than $33 million to Sekulow, members of his family, and businesses owned or co-owned by them;[29] from 2011 to 2015, the two charities paid $5.5 million to Sekulow and members of his family and $23 million to their businesses.[18] Since 2011, donations to ACLJ are routed through Sekulow's family-run CASE,[18][30] and many "transactions that benefit members of the Sekulow family are disclosed on the CASE returns, but not the ACLJ's."[29][30] Between 2011 and 2015, the ACLJ, the "public face of the two nonprofits," collected nearly $230 million incharitable donations.[18]
On June 27 and 28, 2017,The Guardian reported that documents obtained by them confirmed later that "millions in donations" were steered to his family members;[31] that Sekulow "approved plans to push poor and jobless people to donate money to his Christian nonprofit, which since 2000 has steered more than $60m to Sekulow, his family and their businesses";[31] and that attorneys general in New York and North Carolina opened investigations of Sekulow's CASE for possibly using pressure tactics intelemarketer calls to raise money which was allegedly misdirected to Sekulow and his family.[32]
Sekulow is thought by some in Washington to have been one of the "Four Horsemen" who "engineered" the nomination ofChief JusticeJohn G. Roberts to theSupreme Court.[33] In 2007, Sekulow endorsedMitt Romney'spresidential campaign.[33][34] He has opposed the building ofPark51, an Islamic center inLower Manhattan two blocks from theWorld Trade Center.[35][36][37]
On February 27, 2019, Michael Cohen reported in testimony before Congress that Jay Sekulow and other members of Trump's legal team made “several” changes to his false statement to the House Intelligence Committee, including a change to the “length of time that the Trump Tower project stayed and remained alive.” Sekulow disputed the testimony "Today’s testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the president edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false".[38] The Intelligence Committee announced on May 14, 2019, that it would investigate whether Sekulow “reviewed, shaped and edited” Michael Cohen's false testimony to Congress.[39]The Washington Post reported on May 20, 2019, that Cohen testified in closed session before the Intelligence Committee that Sekulow instructed him to falsely testify that the Trump Tower Moscow discussions ended in January 2016.[40] TheSenate Intelligence Committee's August 2020 final report on 2016 election interference noted that after his indictment, Cohen discussed a presidential pardon with Sekulow more than six times, and that "he understood that the pardon discussions had come from Trump through Sekulow."[41]
The New York Times reported in December 2019 that people close to Sekulow said he told them he voted forHillary Clinton in 2016.[11] In 2020, January, he was named as part of the counsel team that representedDonald Trump in theimpeachment case in the Senate.[42]
Sekulow and Pamela McPherson married in 1978 and have two adult sons, Jordan and Logan.[43][44]Jordan Sekulow is an attorney with the ACLJ and Director of International Operations. He also co-hosts the radio and television programming with his father. Logan briefly starred in theNickelodeon seriesU-Pick Live in 2005.[45]
Sekulow is aMessianic Jew and a convert to Christianity.[46] Sekulow's youngest brother Scott was the founder and Rabbi of the Messianic Jewish Congregation Beth Adonai inAtlanta, Georgia,[47] until his death in August 2021 of COVID-19.[48][49][50]
Sekulow is a member of theBoard of Trustees of theSupreme Court Historical Society inWashington, D.C.[citation needed] He plays drums and guitar in the "Jay Sekulow Band", which includesJohn Elefante, a former member of the bandKansas, andJohn W. Schlitt, a former member ofHead East andPetra, among its members.[51][52][53]
Sekulow has argued in front of theUnited States Supreme Court 12 times, specializing in issues of theFirst Amendment.[57] Sekulow most recently argued before the Supreme Court on November 12, 2008, inPleasant Grove City v. Summum, case No.07-665. Sekulow represented the city in this case concerning government control overmonuments and memorials in government-owned public places, which ended the following February with the Court ruling in the city's favor. On March 2, 2009, the Supreme Court issued a summary disposition in the companion case ofSummum v. Duchesne City. The Court vacated the Tenth Circuit opinion and remanding the case for an opinion consistent withPleasant Grove City v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460 (2009).
Sekulow has submitted severalamicus briefs in support ofconservative issues. He has submitted amicus briefs in landmark cases such asHamdi v. Rumsfeld,Rasul v. Bush,Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, andHein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation. His amicus briefs forVan Orden v. Perry andWisconsin Right to Life v. FEC were cited by JusticesJohn Paul Stevens andJohn Roberts respectively.[58][59] Sekulow was counsel to Robert and Mary Schindler during the controversy surrounding their daughter,Terri Schiavo. Sekulow's amicus brief inMorse v. Frederick was in support of theACLU's position; he argued that schools banning "offensive" speech would also be able to prohibit religious speech with which the administrators disagree.
| Case: | Date: | Argument: | Result: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board of Airport Commissioners v. Jews for Jesus[60] | 1987 | Arguing on behalf of Jews for Jesus, Sekulow argued that LAX's policy banning all "First Amendment activities" violated the organization's right to free speech. | Judgment for Jews for Jesus. |
| Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens[61] | 1990 | Sekulow argued on behalf of students who were denied their request to form a Bible and prayer club at their school. | Judgment for the Students. |
| U.S. v. Kokinda[57] | 1990 | Sekulow argued on behalf of two volunteers of theNational Democratic Policy Committee who were arrested after refusing to leave the sidewalk near apost office. | Judgment for the United States |
| Lee v. ISKCON[62] | 1992 | Sekulow was co-counsel, arguing on behalf ofISKCON against a regulation that prohibited distribution ofliterature in airportterminals. | Judgment for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. |
| Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic | 1993 | Sekulow argued on behalf of United Statesanti-abortion activists who were originally found as violating a statute by conducting demonstrations atabortion clinics. | Judgment for the Activists. |
| Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District[63] | 1993 | In another case involving the use ofschool property, Sekulow represented Lamb's Chapel and their right to show religious-orientedfilms in a school after-hours. | Judgment for Lamb's Chapel. |
| Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York | 1997 | Sekulow argued on behalf of Schenck, challenging a District court ruling that provided for speech-free floating "bubble zones" surrounding abortion clinics. | Judgment for Schenck. |
| Hill v. Colorado | 2000 | This case revolved around protesters' rights to distribute literature in front of abortion clinics and a statute that barred them from approaching anon-consenting person. Sekulow, representing the protesters, argued that Colorado's "eight-foot rule" wasunconstitutional. | Judgment for Colorado. |
| Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe | 2000 | Sekulow, representing the school district, argued thatprayer, initiated and led by students atfootball games, did not violate theEstablishment Clause. | Judgment for Doe. |
| McConnell v. FEC | 2003 | In a highly publicized case, Sekulow, on behalf of a group of students includingEmily Echols, argued that a portion of theBipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 violated the First Amendment and was thus unconstitutional. | Judgment for Echols, et al. |
| Locke v. Davey | 2003 | Sekulow, representing student Joshua Davey, argued that a statute excludingtheology students from publicly fundedscholarships was unconstitutional. | Judgment for Locke. |
| Pleasant Grove City v. Summum[64] | 2008 | Sekulow, representing the city of Pleasant Grove, challenged aTenth circuit opinion allowingSummum to erect a monument alongside aTen Commandments monument donated to the city by theFraternal Order of Eagles. | Judgment for Pleasant Grove City. |
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| National | |
| Other | |
