Dean John Sauer (born November 13, 1974) is an American lawyer who served as Solicitor General of Missouri from 2017 to 2023 and represented Donald Trump in his successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. United States.
John Sauer | |
|---|---|
| Solicitor General of the United States | |
Presumptive nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Donald Trump (elect) |
| Succeeding | Elizabeth Prelogar |
| Solicitor General of Missouri | |
| In office January 9, 2017 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Governor | Eric Greitens Mike Parson |
| Preceded by | James Layton |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Divine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dean John Sauer November 13, 1974 |
| Education | |
Education
editSauer was born on November 13, 1974. He attended Saint Louis Priory School, a Catholic secondary day school for boys in Creve Coeur, Missouri, run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey.
Sauer graduated from Duke University in 1997 with a double Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. He attended then Oriel College at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship and received a Bachelor of Arts in theology.[1][2]
After earning a Master of Arts in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, Sauer entered Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated in 2004 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.[3]
Legal career
editAfter law school, Sauer was a law clerk to Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2004 to 2005 and to U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia from 2005 to 2006.
Sauer worked as a litigation associate at Cooper & Kirk and then became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. He later reentered private practice.[4]
In 2015, Sauer defended a priest falsely accused of sexually abusing children. Sauer helped the priest sue his accusers and the police officers who were involved.[5] Prosecutors had dropped all charges against the priest, and the priest's record has since been fully expunged.[6][7] Sauer prevailed in the civil lawsuits related to the accusations.[8]
In January 2017, then-Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley appointed Sauer Solicitor General of Missouri.[9]
On December 10, 2020, as Solicitor General Counsel of Record, Sauer signed the "Motion of States of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, And Utah To Intervene And Proposed Bill of Complaint In Intervention" in an attempt to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election.[10] The motion sought to intervene and join the Texas Bill of Complaint (filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton), to prevent the selection of presidential electors based upon the November election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan.[11]
In January 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey appointed Sauer Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation.[12][13] Sauer resigned from his post less than a month later, on January 27, 2023.[14]
In July 2023, Sauer testified before a U.S. House Subcommittee as the Louisiana Department of Justice Special Assistant Attorney General. [15]
Representing Donald Trump
editOn January 9, 2024, he represented former president Donald Trump in oral arguments before a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit regarding the issue of presidential immunity in the criminal case of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump.[16]
At the hearing, in response to a hypothetical question posed by Judge Florence Y. Pan about whether a U.S. President could order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival and be immune from prosecution,[17] Sauer argued that the impeachment clause in Article II, Section 4, of the Constitution[18] implies that the Senate must first impeach and convict before a president can be criminally prosecuted, and that acquittal bars prosecution.[19] Sauer stated that this type of prosecution of a former president "would authorize, for example, the indictment of President Biden in the Western District of Texas after he leaves office for mismanaging the border allegedly". [20]
Solicitor General
editIn November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate Sauer to serve as the next solicitor general of the United States.[21]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Duke University Alumni Magazine". Duke. August 1, 1998. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
- ^ "32 American College Students Are Named Rhodes Scholars". The New York Times. December 9, 1996. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ Parker, Shannon (January 29, 2009). "LN Ten Most Interesting: John Sauer". Laude News. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ "WULS: Faculty Profiles". Washington University School of Law. June 15, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ https://dockets.justia.com/docket/missouri/moedce/4:2015cv01008/140569
- ^ https://fox2now.com/news/abuse-charges-dropped-against-st-louis-priest/
- ^ https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252164/st-louis-priest-to-have-arrest-record-expunged-after-sexual-abuse-cases-dropped
- ^ https://dockets.justia.com/docket/missouri/moedce/4:2015cv01008/140569
- ^ Mannies, Jo (February 10, 2017). "Missouri Attorney General Hawley addresses Democrats' residency concerns, rents apartment". KWMU. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ "MOTION OF STATES OF MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND UTAH TO INTERVENE AND PROPOSED BILL OF COMPLAINT IN INTERVENTION, December 10, 2020" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States.
- ^ "AG Paxton Sues Battleground States for Unconstitutional Changes to 2020 Election Laws". Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
- ^ "Bailey brings on national conservative figure, Josh Divine as Solicitor General". December 22, 2022.
- ^ "Missouri's new attorney general to be sworn-in today | 93.9 the Eagle".
- ^ "Legal Resistance to Biden Administration in Doubt as Powerhouse AG Offices Stumble". National Review. January 27, 2023.
- ^ "Louisiana Department of Justice Special Assistant Attorney General D. John Sauer testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Capitol Hill July 20, 2023". ALAMY. July 20, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ U.S. Court of Appeals. District of Columbia Circuit. (9 January 2024). "District of Columbia Circuit Court Oral Arguments on Former President Trump's Immunity Claims". C-SPAN. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ Breuninger, Kevin; Mangan, Dan (January 9, 2024). "Trump Hearing Live Updates: Lawyer for ex-president argues immunity for official acts is absolute". CNBC. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ "ArtII.S4.1 Overview of Impeachment Clause". U.S. Congress. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ "Trump's Boldest Argument Yet: Immunity From Prosecution for Assassinations". U.S. Congress. January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ "Judges skeptical of Trump's immunity appeal at court hearing in 2020 election interference case". NBC News. January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ Wegmann, Philip [@PhilipWegmann] (November 14, 2024). "News: Trump announces former Rep. Doug Collins as his nominee to be Veterans Affairs secretary" (Tweet) – via Twitter.