March 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has nominated George Conway III, husband of Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway, to fill a key post at the Justice Department, according to multiple media reports.
Conway will head the department’s civil division, a group of 1,000 lawyers tasked with representing the government in a wide array of legal cases that includes Trump’s controversial executive order banning travel from six Muslim countries.
The civil division will also defend Trump himself in a pending lawsuit alleging he violated the Constitution’s emolument clause, which bans the president from taking money from foreign governments. Trump critics said money made from his hotel holdings when foreign government leaders stay there violates the Constitution.
Conway’s appointment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
Conway, 53, is a partner at the New York City law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz where he specializes in securities, contract and antitrust law. Conway had been floated for the position of solicitor general, the Justice Department’s chief lawyer before the Supreme Court, but Trump announced that post will be filled by Noel Francisco.
