Dan Scavino

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.[1][2] 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.[3]

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.

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

Early life and education

Scavino was born in New York and is of Italian descent.[4] He was raised in the New York City area.[5][6] 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 degree in communications.

Career

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.[7][8][9][10]

Trump presidential campaign

Scavino was involved with Donald Trump's presidential campaign since it began in June 2015. In February 2016, Trump appointed Scavino as the campaign's director of social media. Over 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.[7]

White House
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.[11]

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.[12] 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."[13] In May 2019, Politico reported that Scavino frequented the r/The_Donald subreddit.[14]

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.[15] Scavino claimed that "Trump does his own tweets."[16]

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.[17]

On September 24, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 2021 United States Capitol attack subpoenaed Scavino for records and testimony relating to the incident.[18] Scavino was evading investigators.[19][20][21] Scavino was represented in the matter by lawyer Stanley Woodward.[22] On April 6, 2022, the House of Representatives voted to hold Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt for refusing to testify before the House Select Committee.[23] The Justice Department said it would not prosecute Scavino, who had claimed executive privilege.[24]

Personal life

Daniel and Jennifer Scavino were married in 2000; they have two children. His wife filed for divorce in January 2018.[25]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Haberman, Maggie (April 21, 2020). "Dan Scavino Promoted as Meadows Shuffles White House Communications Team". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  3. 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.
  4. Mendelsohn, Jennifer (January 18, 2018). "How Would Trump's Immigration Crackdown Have Affected His Own Team?". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  5. "Daniel Scavino Jr. turns from caddie into White House social media director". We the Italians. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  6. 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.
  7. Moody, Chris (July 5, 2016). "How a golf caddie became Trump's campaign confidant". CNN. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016.
  8. 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)
  9. Draper, Robert (April 16, 2018). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  10. "Dan Scavino: 5 things to know about local Trump staffer who has served through term". Poughkeepsie Journal.
  11. 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.
  12. Samuelsohn, Darren (April 1, 2017). "Trump aide accused of Hatch Act violation after urging Amash primary challenge". Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. Draper, Robert (April 16, 2018). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  18. Jalonick, Mary Clare; Tucker, Eric (September 24, 2021). "House Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump advisers, associates". AP NEWS.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
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