Restless and ambitious, Matthew Whitaker repeatedly shifted course to advance his career. Now he heads the Justice Department
WASHINGTON - Iowa attorney Matthew Whitaker had an audacious plan to land a plum federal job in 2017 - appearing regularly as a conservative pundit on cable TV shows that President Donald Trump was known to devour.
The pitch paid off when he was named chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. And when Sessions was ousted on Nov. 7, Trump picked Whitaker as acting attorney general - putting him atop the Justice Department, with more than 100,000 employees and direct oversight of the special counsel investigation that has threatened the White House.
Whitaker's "fantasy was to be appointed to be a federal judge in Iowa," said John Q. Barrett, a law professor at St. John's University who spoke to Whitaker about his ambitions before a CNN appearance in June 2017.
"In his wildest dreams, I don't think he imagined becoming the acting attorney general," Barrett added. "He certainly succeeded in getting noticed."
Whitaker's unorthodox rise was similar to much of
