Ian Bassin

Last updated

Ian Bassin is an American lawyer, writer, and activist who serves as executive director of Protect Democracy. [1] [2] He previously served as Associate White House Counsel under President Obama. [3]

Contents

In 2022, Washingtonian named Bassin one of the 500 most influential people in Washington, D.C. [4] In 2023, it was announced that Bassin had been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for "working to strengthen the structures, norms, and institutions of democratic governance in the United States." [5]

Education

Ian Bassin graduated with a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1998 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2006. [6] [7] [8] While at Yale Law School, he and Justin Florence co-founded a group called "Law Students Against Alito," opposing the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. [9]

Early career

In 2007, Ian joined the Obama campaign’s policy team, and later the Obama-Biden transition team. [10] [11] From 2009 to 2011, he served in the White House Counsel’s Office. [12] [13] As Associate White House Counsel, Ian worked on democracy issues and the rules that govern executive branch behavior. [14]

After leaving the White House, Ian was reportedly involved in a number of social activism efforts around the world. [15] In 2012, he helped organize a campaign that freed more than 100 migrant laborers in Bahrain who were being held against their will and in violation of international human rights law. [16] In 2013, Ian directed a litigation effort in South Africa that reaffirmed the right under the South African Constitution to publicly criticize the president. [17] He also helped with organizing efforts in support of Syrians during Bashar al-Assad’s war. [18]  In 2014, he was involved in a campaign to protect women’s rights in Afghanistan. [19]

In 2015, when he was Deputy Counsel to the Mayor of New York City, he was criticized by the New York Post for his early and public denunciation of Eric Garner's killing by New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo. [20] [21] While Deputy Counsel to the Mayor, to reduce arrests of youth who danced on New York City subways, Ian created a city-sponsored training and performance program for street dancers called “It’s Showtime NYC.” [22] [23] He worked with the Chief of the NYPD Transit Division to divert subway dancers into the program, in lieu of arrest. [24]

In 2016, Ian was part of the team at GiveDirectly, a non-governmental organization operating in Kenya that launched one of the largest universal basic income experiments in history. [25]

Protect Democracy

In 2016, Ian also co-founded the nonprofit organization Protect Democracy. [3] [26] According to Time Magazine , Protect Democracy is a “defender of America’s system of government against the threat of authoritarianism.” [27] The organization includes progressives, moderates, and conservatives who have worked for Democratic and Republican elected officials. [28] [29]

In his role as executive director, Ian has been a frequent commentator on the state of American democracy, the dangers it faces, and what is needed to save it. [30] He is a critic of unchecked presidential war powers under both President Obama and President Trump. [31] [32] He was credited by The Daily Beast with causing then-candidate Joe Biden to clarify and walk back remarks suggesting he would defy a congressional subpoena during the first Trump impeachment. [33]

Bassin coined the term “autocratic capture," describing “a form of systemic corruption in which politicians have improper influence on private companies [and] use government power to put pressure on businessmen and to force them, or their employees, to toe a political line.” [34]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom</span> International law firm

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron York</span> American conservative (born 1955)

Byron York is an American conservative correspondent, pundit, columnist, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merrick Garland</span> American lawyer and jurist (born 1952)

Merrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 86th United States attorney general since 2021. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021. In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Republican-led U.S. Senate did not hold a vote to confirm him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Klain</span> White House chief of staff from 2021 to 2023

Ronald Alan Klain is an American attorney, political consultant, and former lobbyist who served as White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys. It was the first law firm in the world to reach US$7 billion in annual revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Caddell</span> American public opinion pollster (1950–2019)

Patrick Hayward Caddell was an American public opinion pollster and a political film consultant who served in the Carter administration. He worked for Democratic presidential candidates George McGovern in 1972, Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980, Gary Hart in 1984 (primary), Walter Mondale in 1984, Joe Biden in 1988, and Jerry Brown in 1992. He also worked for Mario Cuomo, Bob Graham, Michael Dukakis, Paul Simon, Ted Kennedy, Harold Washington, Andrew Romanoff and Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew C. McCarthy</span> American lawyer

Andrew C. McCarthy III is an American lawyer and columnist for National Review. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He led the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and eleven others. The defendants were convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and planning a series of attacks against New York City landmarks. He also contributed to the prosecutions of terrorists who bombed United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He resigned from the Justice Department in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Dunn</span> American political strategist (born 1958)

Anita Dunn is an American political strategist who served as a senior advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, holding the post from January 20, 2021, to August 12, 2021, and again from May 5, 2022 to August 2024. She is currently serving as a senior adviser to the Future Forward PAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Elias</span> American lawyer (born 1969)

Marc Erik Elias is an American elections attorney for the Democratic Party. He founded Democracy Docket, a website focused on voting rights and election litigation in the United States, in 2020, and he left his position as a partner at Perkins Coie to start the Elias Law Group in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bauer</span> American lawyer

Robert F. Bauer is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel under President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Malinowski</span> American diplomat and politician (born 1965)

Tomasz "Tom" P. Malinowski is an American politician and diplomat who was the U.S. representative from New Jersey's 7th congressional district from 2019 to 2023. A Democrat, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Obama administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First presidency of Donald Trump</span> US presidential administration from 2017 to 2021

Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump was inaugurated and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York, took office following his electoral college victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, in which he lost the popular vote to Clinton by nearly three million votes. Upon his inauguration, he became the first president in American history without prior public office or military background. Trump made an unprecedented number of false or misleading statements during his campaign and presidency. His first presidency ended following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election to former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, after one term in office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter B. Robb</span> American lawyer (born 1948)

Peter Barr Robb is an American lawyer who was the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump. He was fired by President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021, after he refused to resign. According to his critics, Robb has advanced pro-business and anti-labor causes both in and out of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hur</span> American attorney (born 1973)

Robert Kyoung Hur is an American lawyer appointed by Donald Trump to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice. Hur oversaw the 2023–2024 investigation into President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents during Biden's time as vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Cipollone</span> American lawyer (born 1966)

Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for President Donald Trump. While in office he defended Trump in his first impeachment trial. He objected to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and played a key role in the January 6 committee hearings, specifically the committee's sixth hearing.

The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was vice president of the United States, improperly withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure Ukraine into firing prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company Burisma and to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the Burisma board. As part of efforts by Donald Trump and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump's first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign, and later in an effort to impeach him.

Protect Democracy is a nonprofit organization based in the United States. A nonpartisan group, Protect Democracy seeks to check what it believes are authoritarian attacks on U.S. democracy.

Carey R. Dunne is an American attorney. He is known for leading the criminal investigation of Donald Trump for the office of the Manhattan District Attorney until his resignation from the case, alongside his colleague Mark F. Pomerantz, in February 2022. In that role, Dunne successfully argued Trump v. Vance before the United States Supreme Court in May 2020; the court held that President Trump was required to comply with a state grand jury subpoena for his tax returns. Prior to his service at the DA's Office, Dunne was a longtime partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he specialized in white collar criminal defense. Dunne is a past president of the New York City Bar Association.

Stefan C. Passantino is an American lawyer and former head ethics deputy counsel in President Trump's Office of White House Counsel. He is best known for his representation of a witness in the Jan 6 Capitol attack House investigation. In January 2023 he was hired by the Trump Organization.

References

  1. ↑ "What Might Accountability For President Trump Look Like?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  2. ↑ Williamson, Elizabeth (2021-01-11). "Beyond Impeachment, a Push for Ethics Laws That Do Not Depend on Shame". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  3. 1 2 Dovere, Edward-Isaac. "Obama lawyers form 'worst-case scenario' group to tackle Trump". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  4. ↑ "Washington DC's 500 Most Influential People". 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  5. ↑ "Ian Bassin". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  6. ↑ "Bassin '98 Named Deputy Associate Counsel". News @ Wesleyan. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  7. ↑ "Profs tackle future of Supreme Court - Yale Daily News". yaledailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  8. ↑ "Ian Bassin: What a Collapsing Middle Class Means for Democracy". Literary Hub. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  9. ↑ Liptak, Adam (2005-11-13). "Yale Law Frets Over Court Choices It Knows Best". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  10. ↑ McNeil, Michele (2008-12-01). "UPDATED: Obama's Ed Policy Working Group". Education Week. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  11. ↑ "President-Elect Obama Selects Dr. John H. Jackson, Schott Foundation President and CEO, to serve on Obama-Biden Transition Team". Schott Foundation for Public Education. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  12. ↑ "Obama Announces Key Additions to the Office of the White House Counsel". The White House. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  13. ↑ Lithwick, Dahlia (2019-03-16). "Former White House Lawyer Ian Bassin on His Legal Strategy for Combating Authoritarianism". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  14. ↑ Dovere, Edward-Isaac. "Obama lawyers form 'worst-case scenario' group to tackle Trump". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  15. ↑ "UNGA Session Draws Broad Palette of Protesters | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  16. ↑ "TN villager wins a battle for Bahrain's Indian workers". Sify . Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  17. ↑ "Boost for war on lion bone trade". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  18. ↑ "UNGA Session Draws Broad Palette of Protesters". VOA. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  19. ↑ "1 million sign petition against new Afghan law to protect women abusers". AvaPress | Breaking Updated news and Latest headlines from Afghanistan. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  20. ↑ Board, Post Editorial (2014-07-24). "Mayor's lawyer cops out". New York Post. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  21. ↑ "Cops furious over de Blasio lawyer's apology tweet to 'chokehold' victim". New York Post. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  22. ↑ Goodman, J. David; Flegenheimer, Matt (2015-09-15). "Instead of Arrests, Subway Dancers Are Getting a Stage Above Ground". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  23. ↑ "It's Showtime NYC". It's Showtime NYC. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  24. ↑ Goodman, J. David; Flegenheimer, Matt (2015-09-15). "Instead of Arrests, Subway Dancers Are Getting a Stage Above Ground". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  25. ↑ Lowrey, Annie (2017-02-23). "The Future of Not Working". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  26. ↑ Kroll, Andy (2020-06-23). "Donald Trump's Presidency Is a Saturday-Night Massacre That Never Ends". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  27. ↑ "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  28. ↑ "Opinion | Here's how we'll recover from Trump". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  29. ↑ "People Archive". Protect Democracy. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  30. ↑ "United to Protect Democracy". WGBH. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  31. ↑ Bassin, Ian; Florence, Justin (2019-04-01). "Opinion | Trump's Acts Show the Urgent Need to Curb the Imperial Presidency". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  32. ↑ Bassin, Ian (2013-08-30). "How Obama Can Get Out of the Syrian Bind He's In". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  33. ↑ Nadeau, Barbie Latza (2019-12-28). "Biden Says He Would Defy Impeachment Subpoena—Then Tries to 'Clarify'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  34. ↑ "Opinion | How tragic that a Republican president is undermining economic and political freedom". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-02-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.