John Donley Adams

John Donley Adams (born November 2, 1973) is an American lawyer from Virginia. He is a partner at McGuire Woods, where he chairs the Government Investigations Department and co-chairs the Appellate Team. Adams ran for Attorney General of Virginia in 2017 and received the Republican nomination, but was defeated in the general election by incumbent Democrat Mark Herring. Adams is a member of the Adams political family.

John Adams
Personal details
Born
John Donley Adams

(1973-11-02) November 2, 1973[1]
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Lisa
Children2
EducationVirginia Military Institute (BSc)
University of Virginia (JD)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1996–2000[2]

Early and family life

Adams is the youngest of four brothers. His grandfather, Rev. Theodore F. Adams (1898–1980),[3][4] led the First Baptist Church of Richmond (1936–1968), and the Baptist World Alliance (1955-1960). He was born into the prominent Adams family.[5]

After graduation from Midlothian High School, Adams attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) while it was being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), which resulted in women being admitted to the Corps of Cadets in 1997.[6] At VMI, Adams served as regimental executive officer and graduated as a distinguished graduate with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1996.[7]

After commissioning out of VMI as an ensign in the U.S. Navy, Adams served two tours of duty, from 1996 to 2000, including deployment to Iraq during the decade-long Operation Southern Watch. Adams lived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as well as Virginia Beach during his military service.[5]

Upon leaving the Navy in 2000, Adams attended the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlotteville, where he became managing editor of the law review.[8] After graduation, he clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003–2004. After working at Hunton & Williams, LLP, he clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the United States Supreme Court in 2006–2007.[8]

Career

Adams joined the Office of White House Counsel in 2007 as an associate counsel in the administration of President George W. Bush, and lived in Arlington, Virginia.[9] He dealt with matters arising from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. State Department. In 2008, Adams returned to Richmond, serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Among his cases, Adams prosecuted John W. Forbes, a former state finance secretary who pleaded guilty and in late 2010 was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for diverting about $4 million of a $5 million grant from the state Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (which had intended to improve literacy in Southside Virginia and southwestern Virginia) to shell companies he controlled and his personal benefit.[10]

In 2010 Adams joined McGuire Woods as a partner, and has conducted a private legal practice there since, other than his leave of absence during his Attorney General run. He heads the firm’s government investigations and white-collar litigation department and co-chairs the appellate team, where according to the Richmond Times Dispatch, most of his cases have concerned matters in states other than Virginia.[5][11] His elder brother Theodore F. "Tray" Adams III works for McGuire Woods Consulting as senior vice president of state government relations. In 2013, Adams led the successful defense of a bank executive in a ten-week jury trial brought by the Department of Justice, while four other defendants were convicted. In 2014, Adams was appointed by the Fourth Circuit as amicus counsel in U.S. v. Williams, to defend the decision of a U.S. District Judge concerning certain provisions of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines with which both the U.S. Attorney's office and defendant disagreed (as ultimately did the appellate panel).[12]

Adams filed two successful briefs in cases in the United States Supreme Court opposing parts of the Affordable Care Act as inconsistent with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In 2014, representing 15 members of Congress, Adams filed an amicus brief concerning the law's contraception mandate, which the Supreme Court ultimately struck down in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The following year Adams filed an amicus brief on behalf of an order of nuns in one of the cases consolidated in Zubik v. Burwell, which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately sent down to the relevant appellate courts after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and further briefing.[13]

2017 campaign for Attorney General of Virginia

A Republican, Adams ran for Attorney General of Virginia against incumbent Democrat Mark Herring in 2017.[14] He secured the Republican nomination after the initial frontrunner, Del. Rob Bell, withdrew from the race and Chuck Smith failed to qualify for the primary ballot.[5][15]

The Virginia State Bar organized a debate between the two attorney general candidates in Virginia Beach on June 19, 2017.[16] Their final debate was hosted by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce on October 20, 2017.[17]

Adams portrayed himself as a classic conservative.[18] The majority of Adams' campaign funds were donated through the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).[19][20][21][22][17] In March 2017, RAGA abandoned its previous agreement not to target the other party's incumbents in the general election.[23] The Democratic Attorneys General group donated $1.75 million to Herring, thus becoming the largest donor to his campaign.[17]

Both candidates claimed to want to remove politics from the office, but by Labor Day Weekend, televised attack ads had begun.[24] As the election neared and absentee voting began in Virginia, such ads increased.[25][26] The Campus Election Engagement Project published a nonpartisan list of their respective campaign positions.[27]

Herring defeated Adams on Election Day, by a margin of 168,551 votes (6.6% of the total vote).[28][29]

Personal

Adams and his wife Lisa have four sons.[13]

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See also
  • List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

References
  1. Randall (editor), Henry Pettus (July 1996). Who's who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, Volume 62. Randall Publishing Company. p. 7. ISBN 9789996465758.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. LinkedIn Profile
  3. findagrave no. 15909757
  4. Jones, Steve. "ResearchGuides: Archives and Special Collections at Southeastern: Adams, Theodore F. collection". library.SEBTS.edu. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  5. Times-Dispatch, PATRICK WILSON Richmond. "John Adams, the political opposite of Attorney General Mark Herring, wants his job". Richmond.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  6. http://archives.savannahnow.com/sav_pdr_archive/text/fr325A/A_2359200.pdf
  7. "John Adams (Virginia) - Ballotpedia". Ballotpedia.org. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  8. Times, Angela Woolsey/Fairfax County. "Meet John Adams, the presumptive Republican nominee for Virginia Attorney General". FairfaxTimes.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  9. Blackwell, Ken. "John Adams: A Government of Laws, and Not Men, in Virginia". TownHall.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  10. Helderman, Rosalind S. (November 24, 2010). "Va. official is sentenced to prison in fraud case". Retrieved September 30, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  11. "Casetext". Casetext.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  12. "FindLaw's United States Fourth Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  13. Vozzella, Laura (July 4, 2017). "Candidate for Va. AG wants to take politics out of the office. Sound familiar?". Retrieved September 30, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  14. https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/john-adams-the-political-opposite-of-attorney-general-mark-herring/article_90014365-a07a-540d-8b87-6fd9df5b896c.html
  15. "Why Virginia's attorney general race will attract national attention". WRIC.com. April 17, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  16. Press, Associated. "Candidates for Virginia attorney general spar at debate". WHSV.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  17. Sullivan, Patricia (October 20, 2017). "Virginia attorney general candidates go after each other in final debate". Retrieved October 21, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  18. "Why the Adams–Herring Attorney General Race in Virginia Matters". NationalReview.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  19. 932-3562, BOB STUART bstuart@newsvirginian.com (540). "Adams seeks to unseat incumbent Virginia Attorney General Herring". DailyProgress.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. "In Opinion: States attorneys general are for sale to the highest bidder". Newsweek.com. September 10, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  21. "RAGA as a Money Machine". October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via www.nytimes.com.
  22. "Was Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life?". BillMoyers.com. September 21, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  23. "Exclusive: As Democratic attorneys general target Trump, Republican AGs target them". March 28, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via Reuters.
  24. Sullivan, Patricia (August 29, 2017). "Virginia attorney general election campaign heats up with pre-Labor Day attack ad". Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  25. Sullivan, Patricia (October 4, 2017). "Virginia attorney general candidates release dueling ads". Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  26. "Virginia attorney general's race heats up with dueling ads". PilotOnline.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  27. Project, Campus Election Engagement (September 28, 2017). "John Adams vs. Mark Herring: Nonpartisan Candidate Guide For 2017 Virginia Attorney General Race". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  28. Lavoie, Denise (November 7, 2017). "Herring wins second term as Virginia attorney general". Daily Press. AP. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  29. "Election Results: Virginia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
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