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Dan Scavino

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Dan Scavino
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
In office
April 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byStephanie Grisham (White House Communications Director)
Succeeded byKate Bedingfield (White House Communications Director)
White House Director of Social Media
In office
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byRob Flaherty (Digital Strategy)
Personal details
Born
Daniel Scavino Jr.

~1976[1]
New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Jennifer Scavino
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2018)​
Children2
EducationState University of New York, Plattsburgh (BA)

Daniel Scavino Jr. is an American political adviser who served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications from 2020 to 2021, and Director of Social Media from 2017 to 2021.[2][3] Scavino previously was the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester, and the director of social media for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.[4]

Early life and education

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Scavino was born in New York and is of Italian descent.[5] He was raised in the New York City area.[6][7] In 1992, Scavino was selected as a caddie for Trump's golf party at Briar Hall Country Club (later renamed Trump National Golf Club Westchester). He graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts.[8]

Career

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Scavino worked for a few years at Coca-Cola in the sales department and as a pharmaceutical rep at Galderma, before becoming assistant manager in 2004 and then general manager in 2008 of Trump National Golf Club Westchester.[9][10][11][12]

Trump presidential campaign

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Scavino was involved with Donald Trump's presidential campaign since it began in June 2015. In December 2015, he shared a video on Twitter, falsely claiming that it showed Muslims in Germany rallying for ISIS. The video was actually recorded in 2012, and featured Muslims protesting against a rally held by a far-right group.[13]

In February 2016, Trump appointed Scavino as the campaign's director of social media. Over the July 4, 2016 weekend, controversy arose when Trump's Twitter account posted an image selected by Scavino of Hillary Clinton with a text in the shape of a Star of David calling her the "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever." The image had originally appeared on an anti-Semitic, white supremacist message board. Trump's team defended its use saying that the star was a "sheriff's badge", before eventually deleting it and posting a new picture with a circle replacing the star.[9]

White House

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Donald Trump, Scavino (second from left), Ivanka Trump, and World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab meet in Davos, Switzerland in 2020

On December 22, 2016, Scavino was named White House Director of Social Media under President Donald Trump.[14]

In April 2017, ethics attorney Richard Painter accused Scavino of violating the Hatch Act of 1939 (which bars executive branch employees from engaging in electoral activities) after Scavino, from his personal Twitter account had called for defeating Congressman Justin Amash.[15] The United States Office of Special Counsel then informed Scavino that his tweet had indeed violated the Hatch Act and warned future violations "could result in further action."[16] In May 2019, Politico reported that Scavino frequented the r/The_Donald subreddit.[17]

On June 18, 2019, USA Today released an article stating that Scavino was the writer of several of Trump's tweets, most likely those sent between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and those without spelling mistakes.[18] Scavino claimed that "Trump does his own tweets."[19]

Scavino was the longest-serving aide in the Trump Administration. He remained as Director of Social Media until the end of Trump's term as president.[20]

In December 2020, after Trump lost the election, standing in a hallway near the Blue Room of the White House, Scavino told Jenna Ellis that Trump would refuse to leave office, as Ellis told Georgia prosecutors nearly three years later when she pleaded guilty in the Georgia election racketeering prosecution. Ellis recalled: "And he said to me, you know, in a kind of excited tone, ‘Well, we don’t care, and we’re not going to leave.'"[21] "The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power."[22]

On September 24, 2021, the U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack subpoenaed Scavino for records and testimony.[23] Represented by lawyer Stanley Woodward,[24] he claimed executive privilege and evaded investigators.[25][26][27] On April 6, 2022, the House voted to hold Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt for refusing to testify before the committee.[28] However, the Justice Department said it would not prosecute Scavino.[29] In 2023, a federal judge said Scavino must comply with a grand jury subpoena from Jack Smith's investigation, after which Scavino spoke to investigators from Smith's team.[30]

Personal life

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Daniel and Jennifer Scavino were married in 2000; they have two children. His wife filed for divorce in January 2018.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Draper, Robert (2018). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". New York Times Magazine.
  2. ^ Schutzman, Nina (December 22, 2016). "Trump names Dan Scavino White House social media director". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  3. ^ Haberman, Maggie (April 21, 2020). "Dan Scavino Promoted as Meadows Shuffles White House Communications Team". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  4. ^ Restuccia, Rew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana (May 16, 2019). "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider". POLITICO. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  5. ^ Mendelsohn, Jennifer (January 18, 2018). "How Would Trump's Immigration Crackdown Have Affected His Own Team?". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  6. ^ "Daniel Scavino Jr. turns from caddie into White House social media director". We the Italians. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Panetta, Grace; Ralph, Pat; Kranz, Michal (May 20, 2019). "Trump's social media director Dan Scavino is the staffer who's been around the longest —and he started as Trump's caddie". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  8. ^ staff, Journal. "Dan Scavino: 5 things to know about local Trump staffer who has served through term". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Moody, Chris (July 5, 2016). "How a golf caddie became Trump's campaign confidant". CNN. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016.
  10. ^ Panetta, Michal Kranz, Pat Ralph, Grace. "Trump's social media director Dan Scavino is the staffer who's been around the longest —and he started as Trump's caddie". Business Insider.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Draper, Robert (April 16, 2018). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  12. ^ "Dan Scavino: 5 things to know about local Trump staffer who has served through term". Poughkeepsie Journal.
  13. ^ "Trump Adviser Smears Syrian Refugees With Debunked Video". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  14. ^ Byers, Dylan (December 22, 2016). "Trump picks Sean Spicer as White House press secretary, Jason Miller as communications director". CNN Money. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  15. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (April 1, 2017). "Trump aide accused of Hatch Act violation after urging Amash primary challenge". Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Gold, Matea (June 9, 2017). "White House social-media director Dan Scavino violated Hatch Act with tweet targeting GOP congressman". Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via washingtonpost.com.
  17. ^ Restuccia, Andrew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana (May 16, 2019). "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider". POLITICO. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  18. ^ Chute, Nate (June 18, 2019). "He writes Trump's tweets and has been with Trump's campaign since day one". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  19. ^ Polantz, Katelyn; Grayer, Annie; Wild, Whitney (January 2, 2023). "'This made us all unemployable': Trump White House aides respond to January 6 in angry text exchange". CNN Politics. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  20. ^ Draper, Robert (April 16, 2018). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  21. ^ Gardner, Amy; Bailey, Holly (November 14, 2023). "Ex-Trump allies detail efforts to overturn election in Georgia plea videos". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  22. ^ Rubin, Olivia; Steakin, Will. "'The boss is not going to leave': Proffer videos show ex-Trump lawyers telling Georgia prosecutors about efforts to overturn 2020 election". ABC News. Retrieved November 15, 2023. And he said 'Well, the boss', meaning President Trump -- and everyone understood 'the boss,' that's what we all called him -- he said, 'The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power.'"
  23. ^ Jalonick, Mary Clare; Tucker, Eric (September 24, 2021). "House Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump advisers, associates". AP NEWS.
  24. ^ Tillman, Zoe (January 21, 2022). "Trump Aide Dan Scavino Was Revealed To Be The Person Trying To Anonymously Fight A Jan. 6 Subpoena". BuzzFeed News.
  25. ^ Al-Arshani, Sarah (October 6, 2021). "A former Trump aide was subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the January 6 riot more than a week ago. Investigators still haven't found him". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021.
  26. ^ Garcia, Catherine (October 6, 2021). "Report: House Jan. 6 select committee can't track down former Trump aide to serve subpoena". The Week. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021.
  27. ^ Lowell, Hugo (October 6, 2021). "Top Trump aides set to defy subpoenas in Capitol attack investigation". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021.
  28. ^ House votes to hold former Trump aides Peter Navarro, Scavino in contempt of Congress for defying Jan. 6 committee subpoenas, Washington Post. Jacqueline Alemany, Felicia Sonmez, Matt Zapotosky and Josh Dawsey, April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  29. ^ Perez, Evan; Nobles, Ryan; Borger, Gloria (June 4, 2022). "DOJ declines to charge Meadows and Scavino with contempt of Congress". CNN Politics. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  30. ^ Faulders, Katherine; Levine, Mike; Mallin, Alexander; Steakin, Will (January 7, 2024). "Special counsel probe uncovers new details about Trump's inaction on Jan. 6: Sources". ABC News. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  31. ^ Ali, Yashar (March 18, 2018). "Wife Of Top Trump Aide Dan Scavino Files For Divorce". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded byas White House Communications Director White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
2020–2021 		Succeeded byas White House Communications Director
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