Editing David Bossie

{{Short description|American political activist (born 1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = David Bossie
|image       = David Bossie by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg
|caption     = Bossie at [[Conservative Political Action Conference|CPAC]] 2017
|office      = [[Republican National Committee]]man <br> from [[Maryland]]
|term_start  = May 14, 2016
|term_end    =
|predecessor = Louis Pope
|successor   =
|birth_name  = David Norman Bossie
|birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1965|11|1}}
|birth_place = [[Boston]], Massachusetts, U.S.
|death_date  = 
|death_place = 
|party       = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse      = Susan
|children    = 4
}}
'''David Norman Bossie''' (born November 1, 1965)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00087102.html|title=LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)|website=id.loc.gov|access-date=June 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="cspan">{{cite web |title=Q&A with David Bossie |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?292082-1/qa-david-bossie |work=[[Washington Journal]] |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |access-date=February 4, 2022 |language=en-us |date=February 12, 2010}}</ref> is an American [[political activism|political activist]]. Since 2000, he has been president and chairman of conservative [[advocacy group]] [[Citizens United (organization)|Citizens United]] and in 2016, Bossie was the deputy campaign manager to the [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Donald Trump presidential campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.citizensunited.org/about.aspx?about=davidbossie |title=David N. Bossie biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324161120/http://www.citizensunited.org/about.aspx?about=davidbossie |archive-date=March 24, 2010 |work=Citizens United |access-date=September 21, 2008}}</ref>

Subsequently, Bossie had a falling-out with the Trump campaign and administration in May 2019 after [[Axios (website)|Axios]] reported that Bossie had been accused by the [[Internal Revenue Service]] of defrauding political donors by funneling their donations to himself through consultants and book sales.<ref>{{Cite news
  |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/07/trump-campaign-david-bossie-1309709
  |access-date=October 16, 2020
  |title=Trump campaign distances itself from David Bossie over alleged scam
  |first1=Gabby
  |last1=Orr
  |first2=Daniel
  |last2=Lippman
  |work=[[Politico]]
}}</ref> In January 2020 he returned to prominent association with the Trump administration as a strategic ally to help contest the [[First impeachment of Donald Trump|impeachment of Donald Trump]] based on his past familiarity with impeachment battles.<ref>{{Cite news
  |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/05/david-bossie-trump-inner-circle-091709
  |access-date=October 16, 2020
  |title=A Trump aide returns from exile: The David Bossie saga
  |first1=Anita
  |last1=Kumar
  |work=Politico
  |quote=Dave Bossie not only knows the impeachment process he knows how to fight the impeachment process and that's what makes him a valuable asset to President Trump.
}}</ref>

In 1992, Bossie joined [[Citizens United (organization)|Citizens United]] as a researcher, during which time Citizens United produced many films promoting Republican perspectives and talking points. Later in the 1990s, Bossie had a troubled turn as congressional investigator. Bossie was hired by the chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform|House Committee on Government Reform and new Oversight]] in 1997 as chief investigator to look into possible campaign finance abuses by U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref name="Clines1997" /> In May 1998, bipartisan concern mounted over inappropriate redaction of tapes and transcripts of former [[United States Associate Attorney General|U.S. Associate AG]] [[Webster Hubbell]]'s prison telephone calls omitting some exculpatory passages. [[Newt Gingrich]] pressed for Bossie's resignation, which followed shortly thereafter.<ref name="Alvarez1998">{{cite news
  |title=Top Democrat Issues Threat To Head of House Inquiry
  |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
  |author-link=Lizette Alvarez
  |first=Lizette
  |last=Alvarez
  |date=May 11, 1998
  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/11/us/top-democrat-issues-threat-to-head-of-house-inquiry.html
  |access-date=January 21, 2012
}}</ref><ref name="Schmitt1998">{{cite news
  |title=May 3–9; A Top Aide Resigns|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
  |author-link=Eric Schmitt (journalist)
  |first=Eric
  |last=Schmitt
  |date=May 10, 1998
  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/10/weekinreview/may-3-9-a-top-aide-resigns.html 
  |access-date=January 21, 2012
  |quote=Under pressure from Speaker Newt Gingrich, Representative Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican who heads the House Government and Reform Committee, accepted the resignation of the aide, David N. Bossie, a dogged anti-Clinton sleuth.
}}</ref>

In 2010, Bossie produced the American documentary film ''Generation Zero'' for [[Citizens United Productions]], written and directed by [[Steve Bannon]], which attributes in some measure the origins of the [[financial crisis of 2007–2008]] to moral failings of the [[Baby boomers|Baby Boom generation]], in particular their turning away from parental values during the [[counterculture|countercultural]] 1960s.<ref>{{cite news
  |title=Fox Nation Must-See Film: 'Generation Zero'
  |url=http://nation.foxnews.com/generation-zero/2010/02/24/fox-nation-must-see-film-generation-zero
  |access-date=February 9, 2017
  |publisher=Fox News
  |date=February 24, 2010
  |url-access=limited <!-- geoblocked in Canada 16 October 2020 -->
  |archive-date=February 11, 2017
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081919/http://nation.foxnews.com/generation-zero/2010/02/24/fox-nation-must-see-film-generation-zero
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
  |last1=Suebsaeng
  |first1=Asawin
  |title=I Watched All of Steve Bannon's Bad Movies
  |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/19/i-watched-all-of-steve-bannon-s-bad-movies.html
  |access-date=February 9, 2017
  |work=Daily Beast
  |date=August 19, 2016
}}</ref> Bossie has written several books attacking Democratic rivals, including [[John Kerry]], [[Bill Clinton]], and [[Hillary Clinton]], as well as a political memoir co-authored with [[Corey Lewandowski]] concerning [[Donald Trump]]'s successful [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaign]].

In June 2018, Bossie, a regular guest on [[Fox News]] programs, made a statement to a fellow guest which was an insult to African-Americans; he later apologized.<ref>{{Cite web
  |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/393841-ex-trump-adviser-tells-black-fox-news-guest-hes-out-of-his-cotton-picking-mind/
  |title=Ex-Trump adviser tells black Fox News guest he's out of his 'cotton-picking mind'
  |last=Thomsen
  |first=Jacqueline
  |date=June 24, 2018
|access-date=June 24, 2018
|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]
}}</ref> Fox News suspended him for two weeks, calling the remarks "deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate".<ref>{{Cite web
  |url=http://fortune.com/2018/06/25/fox-news-cotton-picking-david-bossie/
  |title=Fox News Contributor Suspended for 'Cotton-Picking' Remark'
  |last=Fleishman
  |first=Glenn
  |date=June 25, 2018
|access-date=June 25, 2018
|work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]
}}</ref>

==Early life==
Bossie grew up in [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="cspan" /> He attended [[Towson State University]] and the [[University of Maryland]], but dropped out before graduation. When he was 18 years old, he volunteered in [[Ronald Reagan]]'s reelection campaign.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grove |first1=Lloyd |title=A FIREFIGHTER'S BLAZING TRAIL |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/11/13/a-firefighters-blazing-trail/b9beb874-fd7b-4dfe-b285-ffcd385501a2/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=November 13, 1997}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:David Bossie by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg|right|thumb|Bossie addressing the 2012 [[Conservative Political Action Conference]] (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.]]
A volunteer firefighter in his youth, Bossie dropped out of university to pursue politics. Bossie was the youth director of Senator [[Bob Dole]]'s 1988 presidential campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-rnc-convention-bossie-20160718-story.html|title=David Bossie, conservative activist behind Citizens United case, takes more active role in Md. politics|last=Fritze|first=John|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=June 18, 2016|access-date=June 18, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Congressional investigator===
After the Republicans won control of the [[United States House of Representatives]] in the [[U.S. House elections, 1994|1994 elections]], [[Dan Burton (U.S. Congressman)|Dan Burton]] (R-IN) became [[chairman]] of the [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform|House Committee on Government Reform and new Oversight]]. In 1997, he hired Bossie as chief investigator to look into possible campaign finance abuses by U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref name="Clines1997">{{cite news|title='Pit Bull' Congressman Gets a Chance to Be More Aggressive| work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Francis X. |last=Clines |date=March 9, 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/pit-bull-congressman-gets-a-chance-to-be-more-aggressive.html}}</ref>

By May 1998, Burton came under intense partisan pressure; even fellow Republicans complained that committee staff had published redacted tapes and transcripts of former [[United States Associate Attorney General]] [[Webster Hubbell]]'s [[Inmate telephone system|prison telephone calls]] omitting some [[wikt:exculpatory|exculpatory]] passages. [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Newt Gingrich]] pressed Burton to seek Bossie's resignation.<ref name="Alvarez1998" /> Shortly thereafter, Burton accepted Bossie's resignation.<ref name="Schmitt1998" />

===Citizens United===
[[File:David Bossie by Gage Skidmore 4.jpg|right|thumb|Bossie speaking about Citizens United at the 2013 CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland.]]
During his tenure at [[Citizens United (organization)|Citizens United]], which he had joined as a researcher after [[Bill Clinton]] was elected in 1992,<ref>{{cite news|title= Trump's new hire David Bossie has decades-long history attacking Clintons|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/03/citizens-united-david-bossie-trump-campaign|last=Gambino|first=Lauren|date=September 3, 2016|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> the organization focused increasingly on producing [[film documentaries]] through its [[Citizens United (organization)#Documentaries|Citizens United Productions]] division. Their films have included:
*''[[Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration]]''
*''[[Celsius 41.11]]''
*''[[Rediscovering God in America]]'', hosted by Newt and [[Callista Gingrich]]
*''[[Hillary: The Movie]]''
*''[[Occupy Unmasked]]''

Citizens United hoped to begin distribution of the feature film ''[[Hillary: The Movie]]'' in January or February 2008. The [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]] of 2002 made that an unlawful electioneering communication.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission |vol=558 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=310 |court=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] |date=2010 |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-205.ZO.html |access-date=March 28, 2019 |quote=For the same reasons we uphold the application of BCRA §§201 and 311 to the ads, we affirm their application to Hillary . We find no constitutional impediment to the application of BCRA's disclaimer and disclosure requirements to a movie broadcast via video-on-demand. And there has been no showing that, as applied in this case, these requirements would impose a chill on speech or expression.}}</ref> They sued, unsuccessfully, for an [[injunction]] to prohibit the [[Federal Election Commission]] from enforcement of those provisions of BCRA on [[First Amendment]] grounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moneyline.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/moneyLine/reference/20080115hillary.pdf|access-date=January 21, 2012|title=Memorandum Opinion, ''Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission''|id=Civil Action No. 07-2240|author=U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia|author-link=U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia|date=January 15, 2008}}</ref>

In a 2010 [[landmark decision]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decided ''[[Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission]]'' for Citizens United. [[For-profit corporation]]s and [[not-for-profit corporation]]s may now advertise and broadcast messages of a political nature without limits on how much they can spend and with few limits on the timing and nature of the messages.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/19/us/politics/0120-scotus-campaign.html|title=Changes in the Way Corporations Can Finance Campaign|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 21, 2010}}</ref>

===Trump presidential campaigns===
In September 2016, [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|presidential candidate]] [[Donald Trump]] hired Bossie to be his new deputy campaign manager.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-hires-head-of-citizens-united-to-be-deputy-campaign-manager/ |title=Donald Trump hires longtime president of Citizens United David Bossie to be new deputy campaign manager |last=Garrett |first=Major |date=September 2, 2016 |website=CBS news |access-date=September 2, 2016}}</ref> In November 2020, following the conclusion of the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]], Trump recruited Bossie again to challenge ballot counting in states with tight margins.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Maggie|first=Haberman|date=November 6, 2020|title=On a Fourth Day of Counting, an Anxious Nation Keeps Waiting|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/06/us/trump-biden|access-date=November 12, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On November 9, it was reported that Bossie had tested positive for [[Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19]]. He had attended Trump's [[White House COVID-19 outbreak#Election Night party|Election Night party]], as had others who tested positive around the same time, such as [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]] [[Ben Carson]] and [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Mark Meadows (North Carolina politician)|Mark Meadows]]. At this point, Bossie dropped out of the recount effort.<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 10, 2020|title=Trump campaign adviser Bossie tests positive for COVID-19: source|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-bossie-idUSKBN27P2QU|access-date=November 12, 2020}}</ref> In February 2022, Bossie "spearheaded" a Republican National Committee resolution to formally censure [[Liz Cheney]] and [[Adam Kinzinger]] for their perceived disloyalty to Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://wtop.com/national/2022/02/gop-now-looks-to-censure-cheney-and-kinzinger-not-oust-them/ |title=GOP now looks to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, not oust them |date=February 4, 2022 |access-date=February 4, 2022 |work=[[WTOP-FM]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Orr |first1=Gabby |title=RNC approves censure of Cheney, Kinzinger for involvement in January 6 committee |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/politics/liz-cheney-adam-kinzinger-censure-rnc/index.html |access-date=February 4, 2022 |work=CNN |date=February 4, 2022}}</ref>

== Publications ==
Bossie is the author of ''The Many Faces of John Kerry'' (Thomas Nelson, 2004), a hostile look at the Democratic nominee in the [[2004 United States presidential election]], then-[[United States Senate|Senator]] [[John Kerry]].<ref name="The Palm Beach Post">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/206831631/|title=”Anti-Obama DVD in swing-state papers”|publisher=The Palm Beach Post|date=November 1, 2008|page=A013}}</ref>  He also wrote ''Intelligence Failure'' (Thomas Nelson, 2004), a book alleging that failings on the part of the national security apparatus during the [[Clinton administration]] led to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.<ref name="The Herald-Sun">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/795510060/|first=David D.|last=Kirkpatrick|title=Old Clinton foes open new chapter|publisher=The Herald-Sun|date=June 21, 2004|page=A4}}</ref>

Bossie authored the "highly partisan" 2008 publication ''Hillary: the Politics of Personal Destruction'', which is credited with delivering, in 2016, an insistent, long-term campaign theme to Trump of "LOCK HER UP!"<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2018/12/21/donald-trump-and-his-shady-entourage-a-brief-history_partner/ Donald Trump and his shady entourage — a brief history"] ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]'', December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2024.</ref>

At the 2010 [[Tea Party movement]] Convention,<ref>Fisher, Max [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/02/tea-party-s-true-character-revealed-at-convention/346721/ "Tea Party's True Character Revealed at Convention"] ''The Atlantic'', February 8, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2024.</ref> Bossie debuted the documentary ''[[Generation Zero (film)|Generation Zero]]'', focusing on the [[financial crisis of 2007–2008]] and insinuating that it was caused by the supposed selfishness of the entire [[Baby Boomer]] generation. The documentary, produced by Bossie for [[Citizens United Productions]], had been written and directed by [[Steve Bannon]], and was poorly reviewed by historians as "conceit", "fiction" and "pseudoscience".<ref>Blumenthal, Paul; Rieger, J.M. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-apocalypse_us_5898f02ee4b040613138a951 "Steve Bannon Believes The Apocalypse Is Coming And War Is Inevitable"] ''The Huffington Post'', February 8, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2024.</ref>

In December 2017, ''[[Let Trump Be Trump]]'', a memoir co-authored by Bossie and [[Corey Lewandowski]], was published by Center Street. The book chronicles their experiences working on [[Donald Trump]]'s [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|successful 2016 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/revealed-new-lewandowski-bossie-book-let-trump-be-trump/article/2637676 |title=Revealed: New Lewandowski, Bossie book 'Let Trump Be Trump' |last=Bedard |first=Paul |date=October 16, 2017 |work=Washington Examiner |access-date=December 17, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal==
David and his wife Susan reside in [[Montgomery County, Maryland|Montgomery County]], Maryland with their four children.  He has been a volunteer firefighter there since 1998.<ref name="C-Span">{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?444716-7/republican-national-lawyers-conference-david-bossie|title=Introduction of David Bossie at the 2018 Republican National Lawyers Conference|date=April 27, 2018|publisher=C-Span}}</ref> 

Bossie received the [[Ronald Reagan]] Award from the [[Conservative Political Action Conference]] in 1999.<ref name="The Dispatch">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/340428743/|first=Don|last=Wooten|title=Turning channel on impeachment soap opera”|publisher=The Dispatch|date=February 7, 1999|page=5}}</ref> He also was ranked number two in ''Politico''<nowiki/>'s top 50 most influential people in American politics in 2015, tied with Charlie Spies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/politico50/2015/david-bossie-charlie-spies|title=The POLITICO 50 - 2017 - David Bossie, Charlie Spies|website=POLITICO Magazine|access-date=June 8, 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections]]
*[[Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016 – election day)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|1733113}}
*{{C-SPAN|34432}}
**[http://www.c-span.org/video/?292082-1/qa-david-bossie C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Bossie, February 14, 2010]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossie, David}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:Employees of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Employees of the United States Senate]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Maryland Republicans]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Republicans]]
[[Category:New Right (United States)]]
[[Category:Republican National Committee members]]