President-elect Donald Trump named William “Bill” McGinley to serve as his White House counsel Tuesday, filling a critical role inside the West Wing.
McGinley spent two-and-a-half years as White House cabinet secretary during Trump’s first term and has a history of representing politically-connected clients on issues related to campaign finance and ethics, among others.
“I am pleased to announce that William Joseph McGinley will serve as my White House Counsel,” Trump, 78, said in a statement.
“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.”
During the tail end of Trump’s first term, then-White House Counsel Pat Cipollone came under scrutiny over advice given to the 45th president during his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Cipollone had been skeptical of Trump’s claims that massive voter fraud had cost him a second consecutive term, and pushed back against calls to replace acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, who aided the then-president in his efforts.
After leaving office in January 2021, Cipollone was subpoenaed by the since-defunct House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
He ultimately gave a deposition to the panel in 2022 and was later subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating the matter.
Trump hailed McGinley, his new pick for the post, as someone who “played a major role in our election victory as the RNC’s Outside Counsel for Election Integrity.”
“Bill has served as General Counsel at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has been a partner at two international law firms, and will work with me as we Make America Great Again!”
McGinley’s appointment was one of five announced by Trump on Tuesday.
The president-elect also tapped Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) as national security adviser, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel, real estate developer Steve Witkoff as special envoy for the Middle East and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to be CIA director.
