RNC to add new lawyers focusing on claims of election fraud – including one key figure from 2020 challenges

By Kristen Holmes, Daniel Strauss and Marshall Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The Republican National Committee, now under the control of former President Donald Trump and his campaign, is bringing on a slate of new lawyers both internally and externally who will focus intensely on election fraud, an issue Trump has remained fixated on.

The lawyers “will initiate battle on election integrity from an offensive instead of defensive posture,” Chris LaCivita, Trump’s co-campaign manager and newly instated RNC Chief of Staff, told CNN.

LaCivita will bring on Charlie Spies, an experienced GOP lawyer, to take over as chief counsel at the RNC.

Trump attorney Christina Bobb, a former correspondent at the Trump-aligned One America News Network, will join as senior counsel for election integrity. Bobb was very active in promoting Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen and authored a book called “Stealing Your Vote: The Inside Story of the 2020 Election and What It Means for 2024.”

“I’m honored to join the RNC and thrilled the new leadership is focused on election integrity. I look forward to working to secure our elections and restore confidence in the process,” Bobb said in a statement to CNN.

The hiring of Spies and Bobb was first reported by the Washington Post.

Bill McGinley, a former White House Cabinet secretary in Trump’s administration, will serve as outside counsel to the RNC for election integrity, a source familiar tells CNN.

The hiring moves come after Trump’s hand-picked candidate for chair of the committee, Michael Whatley, was elected to lead the RNC. A source close to Trump said that the former president’s interest in Whatley, formerly the RNC’s general counsel, stems directly from Whatley’s work and intense focus on claims of election fraud. Trump has continued to baselessly claim the 2020 election was stolen.

The RNC began laying off dozens of staffers on Monday, affecting multiple departments, CNN previously reported.

One of Trump’s grievances with the previous RNC Chair, Ronna McDaniel, stemmed from the organization’s handling of the 2020 election. He blamed the RNC for not having what he believes were the proper attorneys in place to challenge the election results, multiple sources told CNN.

The source familiar with internal discussions said that Whatley and the RNC are expected to have a renewed focus on elections, including efforts to challenge various election laws put into place in 2020.

Bobb played roles in Trump controversies

Bobb was directly involved in two separate Trump controversies that led to the former president’s federal indictments in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, as well as the 2020 election subversion case. She has not been accused of any crimes.

In June 2022, while federal authorities were still trying to recover classified documents that remained at Mar-a-Lago, Bobb signed a sworn affidavit on Trump’s behalf, inaccurately telling the Justice Department that there weren’t any classified files left at the club. Special counsel Jack Smith later charged Trump with lying to the FBI and accused Trump of illegally causing Bobb to submit this false declaration even though he knew it was untrue.

She also played a key role in the Trump campaign’s fake electors scheme after he lost the 2020 election, working closely with Trump advisers to organize the plan in seven battleground states. The scheme formed the basis of parts of Smith’s election subversion indictment against the former president, which says Trump and his allies created “fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding” in Congress on January 6, 2021, and “disenfranchise millions of voters.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Bobb was also a correspondent during the 2020 election for the fringe pro-Trump network OAN, where she promoted false claims that the election was rigged. The voting technology company Dominion sued Bobb and OAN for defamation in 2021. Some of her on-air segments were also referenced in a separate defamation case against OAN filed by Smartmatic, another aggrieved voting company. OAN and Bobb have denied wrongdoing in these civil cases.

“Bobb has made a name for herself with Trump by attempting to undermine the will of voters in the 2020 election – it has never been more clear that our democracy is on the ballot this November,” Alex Floyd, DNC rapid response director, said in a statement.

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