Marc Elias, a veteran campaign finance lawyer who was general counsel for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004, is scheduled to be Mrs. Clinton’s lead campaign lawyer in her all-but-assured second bid for the presidency, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Elias was added to the team before questions of Mrs. Clinton’s use of her personal email surfaced to handle professional matters was made public. Mr. Elias is a partner at the firm Perkins Coie, which represents a number of Democratic senators.
The lead lawyer for a presidential campaign usually handles many different elements, including negotiating the ground rules for the presidential debates, signing off on television ads and monitoring voting rights issues. In the modern political landscape, part of Mr. Elias’s role will be ensuring that coordination rules are followed to maintain the firewall between the campaign and the outside groups supporting it.
In 2008 Mrs. Clinton’s campaign lawyer was Lyn Utrecht, who is still on the team, and David Kendall, who has worked with Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton since their days in the White House, has been helping her respond to the latest House inquiry into the 2012 Benghazi attacks.
Mr. Elias played a pertinent role in increasing the federal spending bill, giving donors the opportunity to offer more funds to both major party committees every year.
In addition, Mrs. Clinton has also told the state they should release her emails to the public, ensuring that she is an honest woman of her word.
