Patrick Philbin | |
|---|---|
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| Deputy White House Counsel | |
| In office February 2019 – January 20, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Leader | Pat Cipollone |
| Succeeded by | Stuart F. Delery Danielle Conley Jonathan Su |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (JD) University of Cambridge (Dipl.) |
Patrick F. Philbin is an American lawyer who served as Deputy Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President in theOffice of White House Counsel in theDonald J. Trump administration.[1] He previously served in the Department of Justice during theGeorge W. Bush administration.[2]: 27
Philbin is a graduate of theRoxbury Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] He holds a B.A. in History fromYale University where he graduatedsumma cum laude in 1989 and was a member ofPhi Beta Kappa.[4] He received his J.D. fromHarvard Law School in 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 Cambridge in 1995.[4]
Philbin first served as a law clerk for Federal Appeals Court JudgeLaurence Silberman.[6] Next he worked as a clerk forSupreme Court JusticeClarence 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 Counsel from 2001 to 2003 and then as an associate deputy attorney general in theOffice of the Deputy Attorney General from 2003 to 2005.[7][4][8][2]: 27 Philbin was one of the lawyers who helped counselPresident Bush that as head of theUnited States' Government executive branch, the president had the authority to chargeGuantanamo captives beforemilitary commissions[6] (see the Legal opinions section of theWikipedia article on John Yoo).
During the Bush administration, Philbin reviewed theTorture Memos and raised concerns withJohn Yoo andJay Bybee about 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 Card and 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 wiretap program 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 Cheney blocked 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 Counsel in the Trump Administration.[1] In 2020, he was appointed to the defense team that represented President Trump in thefirst Senate impeachment trial.[13]