President-elect Donald Trump has tapped two members of Missouri’s legal team for positions in the new administration, naming D. John Sauer solicitor general and Will Scharf assistant to the president and White House staff secretary.
Sauer, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country, served as Missouri solicitor general from 2017 to 2022 under Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt. In this position, he led Missouri’s unsuccessful efforts alongside other GOP attorneys general to keep Trump in power by contesting the 2020 election results.
Most recently, Sauer successfully represented Trump before the U.S. Supreme Court in his bid for immunity from criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The justices voted 6-3 in July to grant Trump Trump immunity from certain official acts he performed as president.
As solicitor general, Sauer will be responsible for defending the federal government’s positions before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“He’s a legitimate genius, an incredible lawyer and I’m thrilled for him and his family,” Schmitt said. published on social networks.
Scharf, who ran unsuccessfully against Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in the GOP primary, briefly served in the administration of former Governor Eric Greitens before moving to Washington, D.C., to work for the advocacy organization Judicial Crisis Network, focused on judicial confirmations and nominations, including the Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
In 2020, he returned to Missouri to work as an Assistant United States Attorney in St. Louis. Alongside Sauer, Scharf was part of the team that advised and defended Trump in his countless criminal trials over the last year.
In his new position, Scharf will decide which memos, briefings and reports go to the president and who gets to weigh in on questions and speeches.
“Will is a highly qualified lawyer who will be a crucial part of my team at the White House,” Trump said in announcing Scharf’s nomination, later adding: “Will will make us proud as we restore greatness to the America.”