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Person

Rob N. Weiner

Residence:

Washington, D.C
Occupation:

Lawyer, consultant, and professor

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Robert “Rob” Weiner is a trial lawyer, adjunct professor, legal consultant, and legal strategist. He is an advocate for voting issues, focusing on voting rights and voter redistricting. He is on the staff of the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a left-of-center election administration advocacy group.

Career

Rob Weiner is currently senior counsel at Arnold and Porter and was previously the head of the litigation department. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. 1

He began his law career as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. 2 He graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law School. 3

In February 2020, Rob Weiner was awarded the Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service by the American Bar Association Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice for his work focusing on the section’s mission of civil rights and social justice. 4

Clinton Administration

During the Clinton administration, he was the senior counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office, where he advised on legislative issues including climate change, civil rights, financial reform, and privacy. 5

Obama Administration

From 2010 to 2012 he was the associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice. While at the U.S. Department of Justice he oversaw the defense of the Affordable Care Act under former President Barack Obama, 6 including arguments at the Supreme Court. 7

Rob Weiner joined the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a left-of-center advocacy group, in 2020, where he provides legal and strategic advice for the organization, focusing on voting rights litigation. 8

In an article written by Weiner, he states his support for the CLC’s letter that was sent to President Joe Biden asking him to change voting laws, to make Election Day a paid holiday for federal workers, to offer new contractors paid time off on Election Day, and to support those who wish to volunteer as poll workers. 9

Campaign Contributions

Rob Weiner has made several contributions to left-of-center people and organizations. In 2019, he contributed $480 to Friends of Bennie Thompson (D) and $1,250 to Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer Political Action Committee. Weiner donated $500 to ActBlue PAC, a Democratic-aligned political action committee. 10

Political Advocacy

In an opinion piece written by Rob Weiner in November 2020 he claimed that then-Attorney General William Barr allowed politics to impact his position and was overtly influenced by former President Donald Trump, therefore, the Department was damaged and compromised under Barr’s authority. Weiner compared his service during the Clinton and Obama administrations saying that there was no political influence in any law enforcement issues (Department of Justice and FBI), it was separate, unlike, he claimed, during Barr’s tenure under the Trump administration. Weiner wrote that he anticipated the Biden administration would be able to “respect the department’s independence” but it will take time and resources to “rebuild its reputation.” 11

In December 2020, Rob Weiner and 24 former D.C. Bar presidents wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post criticizing former President Donald Trump’s lawyers for jeopardizing the “integrity of the electoral process” by filing three dozen lawsuits against the electoral process. Rob Weiner and the other authors claim that there were no grounds for the lawsuits and the lawyers who supported the former president were unethical and acted unprofessionally. 12

In February 2019, Rob Weiner, along with three associates from Arnold and Porter, wrote a piece for the American Constitution Society stating that former President Donald Trump overstepped his authority by declaring a national emergency in order to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and bypassed Congress. 13

Social Media

Rob Weiner maintains a Twitter account that is focused on voting issues and promotes the activities of the Campaign Legal Center, including support of the Voting Rights Act, voter redistricting, and the use of absentee ballots. 14

References

  1. Washington Trial Lawyer and Legal Strategist to Receive ABA Robert F. Drinan Award.” American Bar Association. November 20, 2019. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2019/11/washington-trial-lawyer-and-legal-strategist-to-receive-aba-robe/
  2. Faculty – Robert N. Weiner. Georgetown Law. Accessed March 29, 2022. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/robert-n-weiner/
  3. Contributors – Robert N. Weiner. The Federalist Society. Accessed March 29, 2022. https://fedsoc.org/contributors/robert-weiner
  4. “Washington Trial Lawyer and Legal Strategist to Receive ABA Robert F. Drinan Award.” American Bar Association. November 20, 2019. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2019/11/washington-trial-lawyer-and-legal-strategist-to-receive-aba-robe/
  5. Rob Weiner. Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 23, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/rob-weiner
  6. Rob Weiner. Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 23, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/rob-weiner
  7. Robert N. Weiner. Georgetown Law. Accessed March 23, 2022. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/robert-n-weiner/
  8. Rob Weiner. Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 23, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/rob-weiner
  9. Weiner, Rob. “CLC Urges White House to Deliver on Promise to Expand Voting Access.” Campaign Legal Center. October 25, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/update/clc-urges-white-house-deliver-promise-expand-voting-access
  10. Robert Weiner Political Campaign Contributions 2020 Election Cycle. Campaign Money. Accessed March 30, 2022. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/robert-weiner.asp?cycle=20
  11. Weiner, Robert N. “Redeeming Justice: The Next Attorney General.” The Hill. November 25, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2022. https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/527121-redeeming-justice-the-next-attorney-general/?rl=1
  12. 25 Former Presidents and the former CEO of the D.C. Bar. “Opinion: 25 Former D.C. Bar Presidents: Lawyers Should Not Be Complicit in Trump’s Attack on Democracy.” The Washington Post. December 1, 2020. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/01/dc-bar-presidents-lawyers-trump-election/
  13. Expert Forum. “Trump’s National Emergency and Plausibility Gap.” American Constitution Society. February 22, 20219. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/trumps-national-emergency-and-the-plausibility-gap/
  14. Rob Weiner. Twitter. June 2, 2021; July 14, 2021; October 5, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://twitter.com/rob78910
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