Overview
(August 26, 2024, Washington, DC) – Steptoe partner Dwight Draughon has been appointed to the bipartisan Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump as Investigative Counsel. The Task Force is the official, 13-member bipartisan House entity charged with investigating the shooting by a resolution unanimously agreed to by the House of Representatives.
The Task Force is empowered with all investigative authority of the House of Representatives, including subpoena authority. For the remainder of this Congress, it will assume control and jurisdiction over all pending House committee investigations regarding the Trump assassination attempt. The goal of the Task Force is threefold: to understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination, to ensure accountability, and to prevent such an agency failure from ever happening again. The Task Force will make recommendations for reform to the relevant government agencies and recommend any necessary legislation to implement the reforms.
Dwight defends corporations and individuals in white-collar criminal cases and government investigations, focusing on matters related to public corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and fraud. He also assists companies in internal investigations and has experience working with clients in the higher education and K–12 industries. In addition to representing clients in white-collar defense and government investigations matters, Dwight helps clients navigate civil litigation cases, particularly those headed to trial.
While serving as an Assistant US Attorney, Dwight tried five jury trials, including a seven-day trial with more than 30 witnesses, and secured verdicts in each of them. He was responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases involving wire, bank, and procurement fraud, firearm trafficking, and numerous other federal offenses. He also acted as a Civil Rights Coordinator for the US Attorney's Office and was responsible for evaluating investigations of law enforcement officers, prosecuting criminal violations of civil rights by government employees and civilians, and investigating local politicians accused of public corruption.
About Steptoe
In more than 110 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
