Trump started his second term in the White House by targeting law firms in retaliation for their past legal work and personnel decisions that displeased him. While some firms pushed back against these assaults on their independence, more than a few BigLaw firms caved. Within the first months of the year, they bowed to Trump’s demands, surrendering in order to avoid (potentially illegal) executive orders that could damage their business interests.
A quieter, but no less significant, aspect of this erosion of the rule of law involves the individuals who have chosen to remain at these firms as they’ve capitulated. Dozens of partners currently practicing at these firms previously served in the Democratic administration’s of Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. As the Trump White House becomes a vehicle of corruption and coercion, these former officials have chosen to stand by their firms’ actions to enable Trump’s authoritarian power grab.
Because of this, they should be considered persona non grata in any future Democratic administration. Any willingness to acquiesce to the unlawfulness of the Trump administration is incompatible with democratic values; those that go along with it should be viewed as incompatible with any democrat or Democrat of value.
Below is a list of former Democratic officials who continue to work at the law firms that caved to Trump:
This information is accurate to our knowledge as of 5/12/25. Revolving Door Project will update or remove entries as new information is reported, including new resignations and actions from law firms to recant their settlements. If you have a suggested update or correction, please email [email protected].
- Andrew Tannebaum
- Counsel to Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Department of Justice, 2008-2009
- Deputy Director, National Security Division, Department of Justice, 2009-2010
- Senior Counselor, Office of Management and Budget, 2010-2011
- Deputy General Counsel, National Security Agency, 2011-2012
- Mark Lanpher
- Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011-2012
- Lona Nallengara
- Deputy Director, Corporation Finance Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011-2012
- Acting Director, Corporation Finance Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2012-2013
- Chief of Staff to SEC Chair Mary Jo White, 2013-2015
- Neil Eggleston
- White House Counsel, 2014-2017
- Mark Filip
- Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, 2008-2009
- Raya Treiser
- Counselor to the Deputy Secretary, Department of Interior, 2011-2013
- Infrastructure Initiative Policy Lead, Office of Management and Budget, 2013-2014
- John Farah
- Advisor, Presidential appointee, Department of Energy, 2023-2024
- Alexa Kissinger
- Special Assistant to White House Advisor Valarie Jarett, 2013-2015
- Deputy Director of Voter Protection, Biden Campaign, 2020-2021
- Allison Murphy
- Associate Counsel, White House, 2015
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- John P. Carlin
- Chief of Staff to Robert Mueller, 2009-2013
- United States assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, 2014-2016
- Deputy attorney general, 2021
- Associate deputy attorney general, 2021-2022
- Karen L. Dunn
- Deputy to David Axelrod, 2008
- White House counsel, 2009-2010
- Obama Campaign preparation, 2012
- Hillary Clinton Debate Prep, 2016
- Roberto J. Gonzalez
- Obama Department of Justice Transition team, 2008-2009
- Associate Counsel to the President and special assistant to the president, 2009-2011
- Principal Deputy General Counsel, Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, 2011-2013
- Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Treasury, 2013-2015
- Loretta Lynch
- U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York, 2010-2015
- U.S. Attorney General, 2015–2017
- Lorin L. Reisner
- Chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, 2012-2014
- Deputy Director, Enforcement Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2009-2012
- Jeannie S. Rhee
- Deputy Assistant Attorney, Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, 2009-2011
- Appointed council to Muller Investigation, 2017-2019
- Adam Aderton
- Senior Counsel, Enforcement Asset Management Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2008-2013
- Assistant Director, Enforcement Asset Management Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2013-2019
- Co-Chief, Enforcement Asset Management Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2019-2022
- Michael Osnato Jr.
- Assistant Regional Director, New York Enforcement Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010-2014
- Unit Chief, Complex Financial Instruments Unit, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2014-2017
- David Blass
- Associate General Counsel, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010-2011
- Chief Counsel and Associate Director, Trading and Markets Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011-2014
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Boris Bershteyn
- General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget, 2009
- Special assistant to the president and associate White House counsel, 2010-2011
- Acting Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 2012
- Michael E. Leiter
- Director, National Counterterrorism Center, 2007-2011
- Leiter, along with over 130 other national security officials signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term In 2020
- David A. Simon
- Special counsel advising on cyber policy, Department of Defense, 2011-2015
- Chief counsel, U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, 2019-2021
- David Mesiter
- Director, Enforcement Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 2011-2014
- Chad E. Silverman
- Senior Trial Attorney, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 2011-2015
- Amelia A. Cottrell
- Assistant Regional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010-2013
- Associate Regional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission, 2013-2015
- Timothy Heaphy
- U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, 2009-2014
- Chief Investigative Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate The January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, 2021
- Sonali D. Patel
- Assistant U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., 2014-2018
- Trial attorney, Department of Justice, 2018-2021
- Assistant Chief, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit, Department of Justice, 2021-2024
- William Stelmach
- Head of the Fraud Section, Department of Justice, 2014
- Marina A Torres
- Regional Co-chair, Obama for America, 2011-2012
- Member of Legal Team, Obama for America, 2012
- Counselor to the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 2014-2015
- Assistant U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC, 2015-2018
- Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, 2018-2021
- Doug Emhoff
- Second Gentleman, 2021-2025