Thomas J. Josefiak (born in

Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a New England town, town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was ...

) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

who was Chief Counsel of

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

(RNC) and Chairman of the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

(FEC) during the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Josefiak is currently a partner with the law firm of HoltzmanVogelJosefiak PLLC in Washington, D.C.

Education

Josefiak received his B.A. from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time a ...

and J.D. from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

Legal career

Josefiak successfully represented the appellants before the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

in a Maryland

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distri ...

case organized by the

Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom De ...

Political Action Committee which brought African Americans and Republicans together. The appellants in ''Patricia Fletcher, et al., v. Linda H. Lamone et al.'' opposed the Democratic-passed 2011 plan. Prior to joining HoltzmanVogel, subsequently renamed HoltzmanVogelJosefiak,About firm
, HoltzmanVogelJosefiak webpage. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Josefiak was of counsel at the RNC and of counsel to the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...

. Josefiak served as the chief counsel of the RNC from 1995 to 2007 after serving in various legal positions at the RNC beginning in 1992.RNC Chairman Mike Duncan Announces Legal Team
, ''gop.com''. In 2012, Josefiak was reported to be a legal adviser to

American Crossroads American Crossroads is a US Super PAC that raises funds from donors to advocate for certain candidates of the Republican Party. It has pioneered many of the new methods of fundraising opened up by the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Citizens United' ...

, the Super PAC established by

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...

. Josefiak served as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for Bush-Cheney '04 during the 2004 presidential election, where he was responsible for all of the campaign's legal matters. Following the election, he served as general counsel to the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee. At the conclusion of the

United States presidential inauguration The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pres ...

, Josefiak returned to the RNC as chief counsel. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

appointed Josefiak to a six-year term as commissioner on the FEC in August 1985. He served as the Chairman of the FEC during the 1988 presidential election, and as vice chairman of the FEC and chairman of the Finance Committee in 1987. Josefiak voted with the other two Republicans on the FEC not to pursue concerns that the influential Willie Horton ad in the 1988 presidential campaign involved illegal coordination between the George H. W. Bush campaign and the group which created and placed the ad, the National Security Political Action Committee. The vote was deadlocked along party lines. Mayer, Jane
"Attack Dog"
''The New Yorker'', February 13, 2012. Headline referenced Larry McCarthy, creator of Horton ad. Retrieved 2012-02-22. Josefiak was special deputy to the Secretary of the United States Senate from 1981 to 1985, representing the Secretary as a full-time, ''ex officio'' commissioner at the FEC. As special counsel to the minority of the

United States House Committee on House Administration The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

from 1977 to 1979, he assisted Republican members in proposing and amending election law legislation, resulting in the passage of the 1979 amendments to the

Federal Election Campaign Act The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicati ...

. He was counsel to the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

from 1977 to 1980, and served as a

legislative assistant A legislative assistant (LA) or legislative analyst is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer, a government agency as a legislative affairs professional, or in the government relations and regulatory affairs industry by monito ...

to U.S. Rep.

Silvio Conte Silvio Ottavio Conte (November 9, 1921 – February 8, 1991) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for 16 terms, representing the 1st Congressional District of Massachusett ...

(R-Mass).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Josefiak, Thomas J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Adams, Massachusetts American lawyers Fairfield University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Members of the Federal Election Commission Massachusetts Republicans Reagan administration personnel George H. W. Bush administration personnel