<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="56400" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="ESPN">ESPN</keyword> analyst <keyword id="5406994" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jay-Williams">Jay Williams</keyword> is hosting a new daily <keyword id="12905" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Radio">radio</keyword> and <keyword id="6355065" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TV">TV</keyword> show, "Keyshawn, JWill &amp; Zubin," alongside Keyshawn Johnson and Zubin Mehenti each morning.</li><li>Williams brings a thoughtful voice to the world of <keyword id="6356028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports">sports</keyword>, which has become a more blatant microcosm of the challenges facing society than ever before.</li><li>Williams told Insider that his past has prepared him to "dig deeper and try to find a space where we can create connectivity and bring people together."</li></ul>Jay Williams has never been interested in sticking to sports."When I hear that line, it frustrates me, because you've had a lot of massive sports figures throughout the course of time who have stood for things bigger than sports," Williams told me. Take Muhammad Ali, he said, or LeBron James, or Bubba Wallace.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7739" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592337" hostid="261"></div>An early-2000s college <keyword id="36237" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="basketball">basketball</keyword> sensation for the Duke Blue Devils, Williams was once considered the heir apparent to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls throne. But after a gruesome accident ended his nascent basketball career, he spent years picking up the pieces. Now, he's a rising star in a different arena — sports media — and gaining attention as one of the strongest, most dignified voices at ESPN.As a broadcaster, Williams is looking in on a sports world disrupted to an extent modern fans have never seen, and one in which racial issues are simultaneously front and center in overdue and unprecedented ways. In that sense, sports have become a far more blatant microcosm of the challenges facing society than ever before.But that's how the 38 year old has always seen it."Sports are a platform that people utilize in order to talk about real-world issues that are applicable to them," Williams told me in early March — before the full effects of the pandemic and America's recent reckoning with race had taken hold.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7608" height="1667" width="2223" msid="77592340" hostid="261"></div>The higher-ups at ESPN recognize the timely value of this perspective: Williams' new daily radio and TV show, "Keyshawn, JWill &amp; Zubin," debuted Monday on ESPN Radio, ESPN2, and ESPNEWS. He hosts alongside former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and longtime sports anchor Zubin Mehenti on weekdays from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m."Being able to have that platform to engage in conversations like this..." Williams trailed off on the other end of the phone before telling me that he was doing a sign of the cross. "My whole life has led me to this moment."<h2>Authenticity and nuance color Williams' work on air</h2><div type="image" title="jay williams 7367" height="1607" width="2143" msid="77592347" hostid="261"></div>I first met Williams on a chilly March morning in Brooklyn — in what now feels like "a completely different universe," as he described it months later.We walked his dog, Denzel Washington, along the East River in DUMBO, where Williams lives with his family in a converted warehouse. Then we sped across the Brooklyn Bridge at 5:30 a.m., toward twinkling Manhattan skyscrapers stretching into the still-black sky. I spent the morning with him at ESPN's studio in the South Street Seaport, just weeks before the network sent its talent home to broadcast from their basements. Despite all that's changed, Williams' outlook on his job hasn't shifted. In a world consumed by hot takes, he told me, he takes painstaking care to deliver his points with nuance."If I'm a vessel — that's how I look at myself via TV — how do I articulate?" Williams said. "Instead of taking such a firm stance — 'I would never do that!' or 'That's wrong!' — how do I get more of a perspective about where that athlete is or where that individual is mentally?"That approach can be especially apparent in Williams' treatment of Zion Williamson, the young New Orleans Pelicans superstar — and fellow Duke product — expected to become the <keyword id="6361805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NBA">NBA</keyword>'s next big thing. Williamson's promise elicits constant analysis and scrutiny, even though he's not yet old enough to legally drink alcohol.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7777" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592349" hostid="261"></div>"Everybody has the things that they focus on, and it's easy to become very myopic, but every morning I'm aware of how people pitch him: 'Oh, we're going to talk about him this way on our show,'" Williams said, adding, "Could that affect a person? Maybe I'm over-thinking it."Or maybe he's relating to it. It wasn't long ago that Williams was in a remarkably similar position.<h2>In 2003, Williams was on top of the world. Then in a split second, he wasn't.</h2>As a 21-year-old phenom, Williams was coming off an impressive first season with the Chicago Bulls — a franchise searching for a star to fill the void left by Michael Jordan.After the team selected Williams second behind Yao Ming in the 2002 NBA Draft, fans were hopeful that the 6-foot-2 point guard would assume the mantle. At Duke he'd twice earned national player of the year honors and led the Blue Devils to a national championship in 2001. Williams even <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/1/16/21069229/chicago-bulls-jay-williams-espn-nba-countdown-zach-lavine-lauri-markkanen-jim-boylen">took over Jordan's locker</a> when he arrived in Chicago, a symbolic gesture that he was up to the monumental task.<div type="image" title="jay will" height="2793" width="2394" msid="77592352" hostid="261"></div>His' 9.5 points and 4.7 assists per game during his rookie campaign showed promise, but it was during the following off-season that Williams started to realize superstardom was in the cards.<div type="image" title="jay williams" height="3108" width="2039" msid="77592359" hostid="261"></div>In his book, "Life Is Not An Accident," Williams recalled playing pickup with members of Duke's roster."Man, your game has gone to another level," then-Blue Devils assistant coach Chris Collins old Williams. "You are going to dominate the league next year if you keep playing like that."But he never got the chance.The day he got back to Chicago from that Duke visit, Williams took his motorcycle out for a ride. He knew shouldn't ride one — it was prohibited in his Bulls contract — but Williams' desire "to make my own decisions, to have some control over my own life" drove him to purchase a Yamaha R6 anyway.That evening, he revved the engine until the motorcycle lurched forward. Its front wheel popped into the air, and Williams — who was not wearing a helmet — clutched the handlebars to wrangle the bike. Instead, he lost control and clipped the left side of his body on a utility pole while moving 50 or 60 miles per hour. He ricocheted through the air, then landed chest-first on a patch of grass by the sidewalk. Williams couldn't feel his lower extremities — they "lay outstretched on top of each other, almost disconnected from my body on the pavement at a 90-degree angle," he says in his book.His body went into shock, leaving him numb to most of the physical pain. But the emotional agony was acute; Williams immediately recognized the gravity of what he had done."I threw it all away! I threw it all away! I threw it all away!" he screamed before losing consciousness.<div type="image" title="jay williams" height="1648" width="2197" msid="77592361" hostid="261"></div>Williams' injuries included a severed femoral artery in his left leg, a fractured sacrum, three torn ligaments in his left knee, a ruptured peroneal nerve, and a separated pubic symphysis. He faced a threat of amputation, a chance he would never walk again, and years of rehabilitation and pain.<h2>'Why me?'</h2>Williams eventually walked away — yes, walked — with an after-effect of nerve damage called foot drop that prevents him from lifting the front of his foot. The fact that he was walking at all was a miracle, but his mental recovery process didn't mirror the physical one."I ran away from my accident for so long," Williams said. "I tried to move as far away from it instead of owning it and saying 'this is part of my journey.'"<div type="image" title="jay williams" height="3000" width="1820" msid="77592362" hostid="261"></div>At first, he put all his energy into returning to the hardwood; some three years later, he improbably made his way onto the New Jersey Nets' roster. "The goal was to get back and play and recoup what I lost," Williams said. "I lost something. I lost who I was becoming, and who I was becoming was a person that got a lot of attention, a person that got a lot of fame, and a person that was finally achieving success."He added, "I felt like the court allowed me to be me — without the court, I didn't know who me was."But less than a month after signing with the team, he was waived.Once he stepped away from professional basketball for good, Williams began the arduous process of discovering his identity without the rock in his hands. For a while, that constituted managing his pain via some unhealthy coping mechanisms.He took OxyContin as prescribed, but became addicted to the opioid while simultaneously drinking in excess. He struggled with depression and sparred with suicidal thoughts. He refused to wear shorts, hiding the scars from his injuries at all costs. Even when his legs were covered, though, Williams said he constantly got "a look of sorrow and pity from people, like 'Oh my god, you had this, and you lost it?'" <div type="image" title="jay williams 7880" height="1665" width="2220" msid="77592369" hostid="261"></div>He was living an angry and resentful existence in New York City."I used to ask this question all the time when I got hurt: 'Why me?'" Williams said. "'Why me?' All the time. 'Why me?'"<h2>A second chance at ESPN</h2>One day, Williams' father posed the question he'd been harping on back to him: "Why not you?" he said. "Maybe your shoulders are broad enough to carry that burden to help others."He may not have internalized the message right away, but once he did, his life began to take on meaning again. Williams moved back to Durham, North Carolina, where he helped mentor Duke players.Five years after his accident, he became a full-time college basketball analyst for ESPN, then worked his way up the ranks and eventually moved back to New York.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7839" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592374" hostid="261"></div>But this time, he took on the city and his job with a renewed sense of purpose."What are you here for if you're not trying to be better? Are you just wasting time? Are you just floating with no purpose?" he said. "That's fine. People go through it — I did it for a while. But, I don't know, going through my experience, I don't want to float anymore. I want to provide meaning to what I do."<div type="image" title="jay williams 7642" height="1667" width="2223" msid="77592375" hostid="261"></div>Later, on a serendipitous trip back to Durham for a speaking engagement at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, a young businesswoman in the crowd caught Williams' eye. He approached her as she put up shots from the hardwood."I don't know who Jay Williams is. I don't care," Nikki Bonacorsi recalled. "I was like, I'm just trying to enjoy my moment right now. I haven't had a chance to play basketball in a while ... I just was more excited to play on the court."But Williams was undeterred."He kept coming over," Bonacorsi said. "He asked for my number and then went to leave for the airport to do 'Mike and Mike' the next morning. And so I thought, I'm never going to see this guy again, and I don't really care."Shortly thereafter, Williams returned to the gym with his suitcase in tow. His flight had been canceled, he told her. He was lying.They hung out that night in Durham, then the next, then later went on another date in New York."The rest is kind of history," Bonacorsi said. The two married in May 2018 and had their first child, Amelia Brooklyn-Rose, later that year.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7971" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592377" hostid="261"></div>"She's my why," Williams said of his wife.The spotlight on Williams and the constant exposure to a world consumed with wealth and status has been an adjustment for Bonacorsi."It's hard for me. We go to these severely public gatherings because of him," Bonacorsi said. "It's new for me, and I'm more interested about the depth of somebody. I don't really care about the cosmetic stuff."<div type="image" title="jay williams kyrie irving" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592382" hostid="261"></div>That quality in his wife is crucial to his ability to keep perspective and avoid getting "a false sense of self," Williams said."I like that my wife doesn't like going to premieres," he added. "Having your photograph taken, it makes you feel like you're elevated, like 'Oh, I'm different' — unless you're lucky enough to have somebody that serves as a constant reminder of what your flaws are and how you can work on yourself."<h2>Williams' wisdom is serving him well professionally</h2>ESPN is by no means Williams' only gig.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7958" height="1665" width="2220" msid="77592384" hostid="261"></div>Just months after taking Williams on as a client, Barry Klarberg — the founder and CEO of Monarch Business and Wealth Management as well as an owner of New York City FC and the New York Yankees — made Williams a partner in his business."It's rare you run into somebody like this with this type of talent, with the history that he went through — he's different, he's smart, he gets it," Klarberg said. "I think one of the things that made him who he is today is what he went through in his own career."Williams also recently became a chief <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword> and lifestyle advisor for CEO Steven Moy's digital creative agency, Barbarian. And on top of that, he owns and operates The Cabin NYC, a rustic bar-restaurant in the East Village, with two of his best friends, Joey Aponte and Dresden "Dre" Baluyot. The two grew up with Williams in New Jersey and were there for him after the accident, supporting him as he struggled to deal with his loss and anger.<div type="image" title="jay williams 8037" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592386" hostid="261"></div>When Williams and I stopped by The Cabin on that day in March, he shouted "Lovas!" to Aponte and Baluyot as he walked in, then hugged both men. None of us anticipated what was to come as we clinked glasses and munched on pizza slices.Williams and his co-owners were forced to furlough 50% of The Cabin staff after New York went into lockdown later that month. Though the restaurant has reopened for outdoor dining, Williams said recouping their losses is "going to be an uphill battle."<h2>Everything has changed — except for Williams</h2>The bar is just one of many aspects of Williams' life that the pandemic altered fundamentally. He now goes live on television from his Brooklyn home each day, while his wife and daughter are just a room away.Williams is also trying to help various family members stay healthy; his mother is immunocompromised and at high risk of severe complications from COVID-19, while his 2-year-old daughter dealt with respiratory issues earlier in the year. His family is being very careful and "staying bunkered in Brooklyn," Williams said.<div type="image" title="jay williams 7424" height="1667" width="2222" msid="77592391" hostid="261"></div>He's also been grappling with the social unrest and protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. That has brought "a whirlwind of emotions for me and my family," he said.Williams said he feels an expectation and responsibility to discuss issues of race publicly."It's been a challenge every single day going on camera," he said. "This slight sense of anxiety comes along with that, knowing that my words could be used against me if I'm not exact. I strategize on what I say and how I say it. It's a little bit stressful, but that's a new normal that we live in now, and we're all trying to adjust."He hopes to use the new show, he added, to "expound upon these types of issues" and to "dig deeper and try to find a space where we can create connectivity and bring people together."If anyone is prepared to tackle such a complex, emotionally charged moment, it's a man who fell off a mountaintop, hit rock bottom, then climbed back up."I think we are at a monumental time in the history of our country, where people are forced to look in the mirror and have conversations with themselves about what they stand for," Williams said. "For me, I've had that in my life. I got hurt, and I was messed up psychologically for a while. I was forced to have conversations with myself. And my wife still forces me to have conversations about our marriage, about our kid, about me, about her all the time."<div type="image" title="jay williams 7539" height="1667" width="2223" msid="77592395" hostid="261"></div>Overall, he added, he's still oscillating between feeling "extremely blessed" and "incredibly guilty" as he starts a new gig in the face of an economic crisis that has left millions without jobs. Still, now more than ever, Williams said he hopes to offer a nuanced perspective during a divisive moment."Life is complex for a lot of people. It's not easy just to label somebody black or white — no pun intended — right?" Williams said. "A lot of life is spent in the between area, in the gray area. I want to explore what that gray area is."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/us-olympians-2020-tokyo-olympics-postponement-reactions-2020-8">Shock, disappointment, anxiety, relief: As the original 2020 Olympics dates pass, Team USA's top competitors reveal how they're coping with the year-long delay</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/video-paige-bueckers-gatorade-athlete-of-year-sue-bird-2020-7">Paige Bueckers — UConn basketball's next big star — is the 2020 Gatorade Athlete of the Year</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/uswnt-tobin-heath-christen-press-kelley-ohara-off-field-projects-2020-7">Stars of US women's soccer are done waiting for others to help level the playing field and are creating their own opportunities while inspiring others</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/sue-bird-legacy-wnba-future-sabrina-ionescu-paige-bueckers-2020-7">Sue Bird is reflecting on her legacy and the WNBA she'll leave behind to budding stars like Sabrina Ionescu and Paige Bueckers</a></li></ul>

Jay Williams has become one of ESPN's strongest, most dignified voices during an unprecedented moment for sports: 'My whole life has led me to this moment'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>In news that brings back memories of when Washington and Hollywood combined forces to discuss how movies and TV should address the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/14/1031608342634.html" target="_blank">War on Terror following 9/11</a>, it turns out Secretary of State John Kerry met with the heads of the major movie studios on Tuesday to brainstorm how to counter the ISIS narrative.And unlike the very secretive meetings post-9/11, Kerry wasn't shy about showing what he was up to,&#xa0;as he tweeted this picture with those involved:<div></div>"Daesh"&#xa0;is&#xa0;a <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/paris-attacks-what-does-daesh-mean-why-does-isis-hate-n463551" target="_blank">transliteration of an Arabic acronym</a> that refers to the&#xa0;Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.According to <a href="http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/john-kerry-hollywood-studio-chiefs-isis-1201707652/" target="_blank">Variety</a>, the meeting took place at Universal Studios and lasted 90 minutes.The major-player participants were: Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group; MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd; Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara; DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg; 20th Century Fox Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos; 20th Century Fox Co-Chair Stacey Snider; Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Motion Picture Production; Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley; Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group; Universal Pictures President Jimmy Horowitz; Amblin Partners CEO Michael Wright; and NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer."It was a give and take of ideas from all sides, more brainstorming without any defining principles established at the end," an insider told <a href="http://deadline.com/2016/02/hollywood-studio-bosses-brainstorm-isis-countermeasures-with-john-kerry-1201703794/" target="_blank">Deadline</a>.&#xa0;Another insider told Variety that ideas were also given on ways to market movies and TV shows across cultures in ways that can counter how ISIS is spreading its network through social-media channels and with video propaganda. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-jordan-makes-spends-money-birthday-53-billionaire-nba-2016-2">Michael Jordan turns 53 today - here's how the billionaire makes and spends his money</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Rxb2Q3djq8zWJZ4bpx7vLpaFThOwNxgN" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

John Kerry met with Hollywood studio heads to 'brainstorm' how to fight ISIS propaganda

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image">REUTERS/Muhammad HamedA <keyword id="6354913" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Syria">Syria</keyword>n refugee is pictured at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, July 31, 2012. Jordan opened the camp with 2,000 tents on Sunday, to accommodate an expected new influx of refugees near the border. Diplomats say around 115,000 Syrians have fled their country, mostly to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, to escape the 17-month rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. The Jordanian authorities say around 130,000 Syrians have come to Jordan since the uprising began, but diplomats say not all of them are classified as refugees.</div></div>On Friday BI Politics Josh Barro <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-obama-administration-is-answering-the-wrong-questions-on-syria-2013-8">observed</a> that the Obama administration <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-intelligence-report-on-last-weeks-chemical-weapons-attack-in-syria-2013-8">presented</a> compelling evidence tying an August 21 chemical weapons attack to the Syrian government but is "failing to explain why it follows that we should launch a military strike on Syria." 
The president has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-rose-garden-statement-on-syria-2013-8">decided</a> that the U.S. should take military action, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/world/middleeast/aim-of-a-us-attack-on-syria-sharpening-a-blurred-red-line.html">reportedly involving cruise missile strikes</a>, against the regime of Bashar al-Assad to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syria-attack-would-be-a-rarity-in-world-that-has-mostly-rejected-chemical-weapons/2013/08/26/42475914-0e84-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story_1.html">uphold </a>the international norm against using poison gas and enforce Obama's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/affects-of-sarin-nerve-gas-2013-4">blurred</a> "<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/08/president-obamas-red-line-what-he-actually-said-about-syria-and-chemical-weapons/">red line</a>."
Pentagon officials <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906304579039330444836914.html">told</a> The Wall Street Journal strike the planned attack would "deter and degrade" President Bashar al-Assad's security forces.
But that still doesn't answer the key question: "What do they think our intervention will do to reduce human suffering in Syria or anywhere else?"
Obama has only <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec13/obama_08-28.html">said</a> that the U.S. plan "doesn't, obviously end the death of innocent civilians inside of Syria."
But a limited strike, depending on the targets, could reduce human suffering in the 29-month conflict by deterring and degrading Assad's air superiority.
<h3>How bombing could, ironically, do some good</h3>
That kind of strike - beyond <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-us-is-attacking-syria-2013-8">responding</a> to the large scale use of chemical weapons- would potentially curb Assad's relentless <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/assad-is-killing-his-own-people-2013-4">bombing of civilians</a>, the flow of supplies from Iran and Russia, and the resupplying of Syrian troops in various areas.
"Specific targets should include the Damascus-area headquarters, barracks and support facilities of the fourth and Republican Guard armored divisions, two units heavily involved in the bombardment of civilian areas," Jeffrey White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/any-us-strikes-on-syria-will-be-symbolic-2013-8#ixzz2dZGiZXJE">told</a> Agence France-Presse (emphasis ours).
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/key-targets-in-damascus-syria-2013-8">The location of Assad's Damascus-area</a> headquarters, as well as the barracks and support facilities of the fourth and Republican Guard armored division, are in range of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cruise-missiles-us-may-use-against-assad-2013-8">U.S. cruise missiles</a>.
"Russian and Iranian military and commercial planes arrive daily to offload weapons (some of them advanced air or sea <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> systems), ammunition, and personnel," Interpreter Magazine Editor-in-Chief Michael D. Weiss <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139874/michael-weiss/how-to-oust-assad">explained</a> in a detailed piece about degrading Assad.
And <a href="http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/required-sorties-and-weapons-degrade-syrian-air-force">a detailed report</a> by Chris Harmer of the Institute of the Study of War notes that only 100 Syrian Air Force fixed wing plane are operable because all but six of the 27 airbases in Syria are either rebel controlled or fiercely contested.
So even though the Obama administration hasn't explicitly explained how a limited strike would reduce suffering in Syria, that information is important to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-rose-garden-statement-on-syria-2013-8">upcoming Congressional debate</a> over a military strike.
<div class="image-container"><div class="image">Business Insider</div></div>

Here's How A Strike On Syria Could Actually Accomplish Something And Reduce Human Suffering In The War

How the GOP learned to love QAnon

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul><li>President Donald Trump's allies have latched onto recent revelations that the FBI failed to preserve five months of text messages exchanged by FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.</li><li>Strzok was ousted from special counsel Robert Mueller's team after it emerged that he sent politically charged texts to Page during the 2016 election.</li><li>Experts say the latest Strzok-Page revelations are the result of a routine process at the DOJ and serve as little more than political noise.</li></ul> President Donald Trump's allies have embarked on a fresh wave of criticism of the FBI after the Department of Justice revealed that the bureau did not preserve text messages exchanged between two employees during a key time period in the Russia probe, according to a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/369717742/Johnson-Letter-to-Wray#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson to FBI director Christopher Wray.FBI counterintelligence veteran Peter Strzok was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-peter-strzok-trump-russia-texts-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ousted</a> from special counsel Robert Mueller's team last July after the Department of Justice's inspector general discovered that Strzok had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-peter-strzok-trump-russia-texts-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exchanged politically charged texts</a> with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was reportedly having an extramarital affair.&#xa0;The DOJ is in the process of turning over the texts to congressional investigators, and it most recently handed 384 pages of texts to the committee. But Stephen Boyd, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, said in a January 19 letter to Johnson that due to a technical glitch, the FBI's system was not able to preserve messages between Strzok and Page that were sent between December 16, 2016 and May 17, 2017.&#xa0;Johnson,&#xa0;who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said in his letter to Wray, which was sent on January 20, that it was "concerning"&#xa0; that the bureau had not retained messages sent during that time period. He said "it is apparent from other records that Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page communicated frequently about the investigation."<h2>'The time for a second special counsel is now'</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>The developments were quickly weaponized by Trump's congressional and media loyalists, many of whom have pointed to Strzok's and Page's messages as evidence of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rails-against-andrew-mccabe-james-comey-hillary-clinton-fbi-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-Trump bias and political corruption</a> within the FBI, DOJ, and Mueller's team.&#xa0;"First the IRS destroyed emails pivotal to our investigation of their political. Now the FBI 'failed to preserve' texts between Peter Strzok &amp; Lisa Page following the '16 election," <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/955214616593920002" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who sits on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees. "The time for a second special counsel is now.""FBI 'Loses' Five Months of Text Messages Between Anti-Trump Agents," <a href="https://www.infowars.com/fbi-loses-five-months-of-text-messages-between-anti-trump-agents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blared a headline</a> from the pro-Trump conspiracy website, Infowars.&#xa0;Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs released a statement Monday calling the DOJ's revelation "outrageous, but not surprising.""Peter Strzok and Lisa Page believed that then-candidate Donald Trump was a threat to this country and appeared to be taking steps, as sworn members of law enforcement, to subvert the will of the American people," Biggs said. "Now, it seems that many of their text messages may have suspiciously disappeared."Cybersecurity expert Matt Tait, who used to serve as an information-security specialist at Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, <a href="https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/955215779515035648" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a> that the FBI's failure to preserve the text messages was likely the result of a routine process that began when DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz started a review of the Hillary Clinton email investigation immediately following the November 2016 election.&#xa0;Horowitz said in a <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2017-12-13%20DOJ%20IG%20to%20Grassley,%20Johnson%20-%20Strzok%20Text%20Messages.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee</a> in December that while conducting a review of the handling of the Clinton email probe, the OIG came across the politically charged texts. The OIG subsequently asked the FBI to turn over all text messages the two exchanged up until November 30, 2016, by which point the Clinton investigation had ended.&#xa0;The FBI produced the text messages eight months later, on July 20, 2017, per the letter. Upon reviewing the messages, Horowitz said he met with Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on July 27, 2017 to inform them of what his office had discovered. Strzok was ousted from Mueller's team the next day.&#xa0;The OIG then asked the FBI to turn over all text messages that were sent from November 2016 onward. But Tait wrote on Twitter that the DOJ had switched to a different internal system in November 2016 - and as a result, a batch of Strzok-Page texts had not been preserved. Moreover, the FBI was not obligated to preserve the messages, because it had only initially been asked to do so with messages up until November 30, 2016.&#xa0;Johnson's letter, as well as the Justice Department's, don't address text messages exchanged past May 17, 2017, the day Mueller was appointed. Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Cramer said one possibility was that the DOJ could have asserted privilege over the messages because it was after Strzok started working on Mueller's team.&#xa0;"That is possible since it could impact Mueller's investigation" and be "potentially relevant as to witness' bias," he added.&#xa0;Former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said that if the texts relate to the grand jury's activities - like internal discussions about who to subpoena and information gleaned from witness interviews - then government lawyers and agents are prohibited from disclosing those details. While it's not the same as asserting privilege, he added, "it is citing a legal requirement that makes the type of disclosure in question illegal."<h2>A pivotal period in the Trump-Russia timeline</h2><h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div></h2>The December 2016-May 2017 time period between which the FBI did not save the texts saw a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-timeline-election-meddling-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slew of critical developments</a> in the Russia investigation.Among other things:<ul><li>Transition team member and eventual national security adviser <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/flynn-indictment-trump-russia-obstruction-of-justice-pardon-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Flynn</a> lied to the FBI about his Russia contacts and later resigned;</li><li>Trump asked then-FBI director James Comey to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comey-describes-how-trump-asked-him-to-let-go-of-flynn-investigation-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let go</a> of the bureau's Flynn investigation one day after he resigned;</li><li>Trump campaign foreign-policy adviser <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-george-papadopoulos-pleaded-guilty-fbi-russia-contacts-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">George Papadopoulos misled the FBI</a> about his conversations with Russia-linked individuals;</li><li>Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sessions-recuses-himself-future-investigations-trump-campaign-russia-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recused himself</a> from the investigation after it emerged that he did not disclose his Russia contacts to Congress;</li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/james-comey-fired-fbi-trump-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comey was fired</a>;</li><li>Finally, Mueller was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-mueller-trump-russia-special-counsel-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appointed special counsel</a>.&#xa0;&#xa0;</li></ul>Several of those developments are key facets of Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the 2016 race in his favor, and whether Trump sought to obstruct justice when he fired Comey, who was overseeing the investigation at the time.Conservatives and political commentators who have been critical of the Russia probe <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/955183138254262273" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed to those events</a> while <a href="https://twitter.com/RepLeeZeldin/status/955458884424126464" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amplifying their calls</a> for the Strzok-Page texts from that time period to be found and released.&#xa0;But experts characterized the latest controversy as little more than a political distraction that doesn't alter evidence.&#xa0;"I guess I'd ask how the existence of content of emails between two people at the FBI could possibly change any of the facts of the events," said Cotter, who has worked with members of Mueller's team in the past. "What Flynn said matters; the circumstances of the resignation matters; Sessions' actions, the facts surrounding Comey's firing and Mueller's appointment, all those facts matter."He added: "What two people at the FBI not directly involved in any of these events said to each other does not matter," and while Trump and his allies may be interested in finding out what Strzok and Page said to one another, "it hardly would be evidence that had any admissibility or relevance to the Mueller investigation or an eventual grand jury's decision regarding that evidence."Cramer largely agreed."Things like this do not impact the evidence or facts," he said. "They do, however, feed the narrative being driven by the White House and Trump's allies."<div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Johnson Letter to Wray on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/369717742/Johnson-Letter-to-Wray#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Johnson Letter to Wray</a> by <a title="View sonamsheth's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/6210224/sonamsheth#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">sonamsheth</a> on Scribd</div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-chose-not-to-sing-all-the-national-anthem-in-atlanta-2018-1">Trump didn't sing all the words to the national anthem at college football championship</a></h3> <div> </div> </div></hr>

Trump's allies are weaponizing a new revelation from the DOJ that experts say is bogus

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Amazon/" Transparent="" title_caption="Amazon's latest series, " was="" one="" of="" falls="" best-reviewed="" series.="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5436e963ecad042170e9868f-960/jeffrey-tambor-transparent.jpg"></a>Amazon/"Transparent"Amazon's latest series, "Transparent," was one of fall's best-reviewed series.</div></div></div>Amazon announced <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-mediaHome&amp;c=176060">seven new shows Tuesday morning</a> which will debut on its streaming service, Amazon Instant Video, next year. 
The list includes new shows from Carlton Cuse ("Lost"), Ridley Scott, Frank Spotnitz ("The X-Files") and Shawn Ryan ("The Shield") along with a half-hour docu-series from "The New Yorker" magazine.
Amazon's roll-out strategy is to put its shows through a trial period.
The premiere episodes will debut on Amazon Instant Video for free where viewers will be able to vote on which shows they would like to see made into full series.
Amazon Studios, which launched in 2010, recently renewed new series "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-just-premiered-an-original-show-to-compete-with-netflix--and-its-good-2014-9">Transparent</a>" featuring Jeffrey Tambor for a second season. 
Here are the show descriptions from Amazon.
1. "Point of Honor" (hour-long series) Pilot director: Randall Wallace ("Braveheart") Written by: Carlton Cuse ("Lost") Stars: At the start of the Civil War, a Virginia family, led by their West Point bred son, John Rhodes (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1452155/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Nathan Parsons</a>, True Blood), makes the controversial decision to defend the South while freeing all of their slaves. At battle against his northern brethren and his best friend and brother-in-law Robert Sumner (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2126048/?ref_=fn_al_nm_8" target="_blank">Christopher O'Shea</a>, Baby Daddy), John leaves his three strong-willed sisters at home to run the plantation that is now without a free labor source. The choice to protect the life they have always known and defend the moral high ground will pit the family against one another and test their strength, courage and love.
2. "Cocked" (hour-long series)
Pilot director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts ("Skull Island") Stars: Dreama Walker and Brian Dennehy from "The Good Wife" and Laura Fraser ("Breaking Bad")
Created by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0062131/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Sam Baum</a> (Lie to Me) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2212280/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Sam Shaw</a> (Manhattan - TV series), Cocked stars <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0870794/?ref_=fn_al_nm_7" target="_blank">Sam Trammell</a> (True Blood) as Richard Paxson, a family man and corporate lap dog who left his family in rural Virginia twenty years before and vowed never to go back. After some unfortunate circumstances, he is forced to leave the big city and return home to help his family's gun business-one of the oldest in the country. But no good deed goes unpunished. Older brother Grady Paxson, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005134/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Jason Lee</a> (My Name is Earl), who's a bachelor, playboy and gun aficionado, isn't so happy to have him back, and Richard's liberal wife and two opinionated teenage children are horrified by the world they have been thrown into. Hilarity, epic fights and emotional breakdowns ensue.
3. "Down Dog" (half-hour series)
Pilot Director: Bradley Silberling ("Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events") Stars: Lyndsy Fonseca ("How I Met Your Mother"), Will Greenberg ("Halt and Catch Fire"), and Alysia Reiner ("Orange is the New Black") Blessed with good looks, a winning smile, hippie parents and a Southern California upbringing, life has been relatively easy thus far for Logan Wood (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1410276/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Josh Casaubon</a>, I Just Want My Pants Back). In his late 30's, having coasted through romances with countless women and various random jobs, he now teaches yoga to the trophy wives, hot moms and aspiring celebrities of Santa Monica and Venice Beach. And he's damn good at it. But when Logan and his current girlfriend, a successful and attractive older woman named Amanda (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108295/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Paget Brewster</a>, Criminal Minds) who happens to be the owner of the yoga studio, break up, life starts to get more complicated. 
4. "Mad Dogs" (hour-long dark comedy)
Created by: Cris Cole ("The Bill") Excutive produced by: Cris Cole, Shawn Ryan ("The Shield"), and Marney Hochman ("Last Resort") Stars: Steve Zahn ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Billy Zane ("Twin Peaks"), Romany Malco ("Weeds"), Michael Imperioli ("The Sopranos")
Based on the hit UK series, Mad Dogs follows the twisted reunion of a group of underachieving forty-something friends-a mixture of single, married and recently divorced-who are all at different crossroads in their lives. Celebrating the early retirement of an old friend at his gorgeous Belize villa, grudges begin to emerge and secrets explode as their trip becomes a labyrinthine nightmare of lies, deception and murder. Mad Dogs is a twisted tale of friendship put to the ultimate test. As an inconceivable chain of events unfolds, cracks within the group widen before the friends realize that the only people they can trust are each other, the last people they want to be relying on. 
5. "The Man in the High Castle" (hour-long series)
Executive produced by: Ridley Scott Stars: Alexa Davalos ("Mob City"), Luke Kleintank ("Pretty Little Liars"), Rupert Evans ("The Village")
Based on Philip K. Dick's Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history, The Man in the High Castle considers the question of what would have happened if the Allied Powers had lost World War II. Some 20 years after that loss, the United States and much of the world has now been split between Japan and Germany, the major hegemonic states. But the tension between these two powers is mounting, and this stress is playing out in the western U.S. Through a collection of characters in various states of posing (spies, sellers of falsified goods, others with secret identities),The Man in the High Castle provides an intriguing tale about life and history as it relates to authentic and manufactured reality.
6. "Salem Rogers" (half hour comedy)
Directed by: Mark Waters ("Mean Girls") Stars: Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Brad Morris ("Playing House"), Harry Hamlin ("Mad Men"), Toks Olagundoye ("The Neighbors"), Brad Morris ("Cougar Town")
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004753/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Leslie Bibb</a> (About a Boy) plays Salem Rogers, an overly confident, outrageously blunt, and hard-partying former supermodel who is forced to face her past and re-enter the real world after ten years in a posh rehab center. Intent on recreating her glamorous lifestyle and modeling success, she tracks down Agatha (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0237222/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Rachel Dratch</a>, Saturday Night Live), her former assistant who has since built a career as an author of self-help books to help her win back the spotlight.
7. "The New Yorker Presents" (half-hour documentary series)
The New Yorker Presents is a completely unique viewing experience that features Tony-Award winner <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001086/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Alan Cumming</a> (The Good Wife) and actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1443368/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Brett Gelman</a> (Go On) in a short film based on a story by<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2919995/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Simon Rich</a> (Saturday Night Live) and directed by Emmy Award-winning director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003474/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Troy Miller</a> (Arrested Development); a poem by Matthew Dickman; a documentary by Academy Award-winning director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001129/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Jonathan Demme</a> (The Silence of the Lambs) about biologist Tyrone Hayes based on a Rachel Aviv article; and an interview with famous performance artist, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009127/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Marina Abramovic</a>, conducted by The New Yorker writer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2417355/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2" target="_blank">Ariel Levy</a>. Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.

Here Are The 7 New Shows Amazon Hopes Will Crush Netflix Next Year

Rick Diamond/Getty ImagesJay SekulowWhen Jay Sekulow <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/5475610088001/?playlist_id=930909788001#sp=show-clips" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found himself backed into</a> a corner during a heated interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday, he pulled out his inner Trump.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyer-jay-sekulow-interview-russia-investigation-fox-news-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The host of "Fox News Sunday" was pressing</a> Sekulow on President Donald Trump's Friday tweet, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rod-rosenstein-tweets-mueller-investigation-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in which Trump wrote</a>: "I am under investigation."Wallace and Sekulow, a big time conservative lawyer who is quickly becoming the face of Trump's legal team, went back and forth on the issue. Sekulow, while trying to explain why Trump <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rod-rosenstein-tweets-mueller-investigation-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wasn't personally under investigation</a> by special counsel Robert Mueller, found himself saying that Trump was under investigation. Twice."You've now said that he is being investigated," Wallace said."No, Chris," Sekulow replied. "Let me be crystal clear so you completely understand: We have not received nor are we aware of any investigation of the president of the United States.""Sir, you've just said two times that he's being investigated," Wallace said.As the president has done on many occasions, Sekulow then doubled- and tripled-down on his point even while his rhetoric from just moments before contradicted it. Trump was not under investigation, he reiterated time and time again.And he became more forceful in each answer."I just gave you the legal theory, Chris, of how the Constitution works," Sekulow said."If in fact it was correct that the president was being investigated, he would be investigated for taking an action that an agency told him to take," he continued, referring to Trump's firing of James Comey as FBI director, which reportedly sparked the investigation into Trump. "So that is protected under the Constitution."By the time the testy exchange reached the question of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rod-rosenstein-tweets-mueller-investigation-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">whether Trump would fire</a> Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or Mueller, Sekulow had turned his ire onto Wallace himself."Here's what you're trying to do, Chris," Sekulow said."Now you're reading minds again," Wallace replied."No, Chris, I deal with fact and law," Sekulow said. "You're asking me to read people's minds."It was the most notable moment from Sekulow's wild tour across four of the five Sunday shows on his second week of appearing on such programs to defend his newest client, the president of the United States.Without much fanfare or even notification, Sekulow had appeared on TV as a member of the legal team defending Trump from the increasingly pointed investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials in the 2016 presidential election and, more recently, whether Trump <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rod-rosenstein-tweets-mueller-investigation-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">himself committed obstruction of justice</a> in his firing of Comey.Screenshot/Fox News SundayChris Wallace and Jay Sekulow.The recent addition to Trump's legal team, which also includes his private attorney Marc Kasowitz and former US Attorney John Dowd, an expert in white-collar criminal law, happens to be the only member who has experience litigating before the Supreme Court. His record in those cases is eight wins and four losses.But although that experience comes with an impressive record of victories, Sekulow has no experience in anything similar to the kind of battle that Trump is now facing.Those who know Sekulow, however, aren't surprised that he's taking on Trump's battle. And even though he has no experience in white-collar crime, some say he is the perfect choice to be the face of the president's legal team.Still, Sekulow is a figure of much controversy.Through a spokesperson, Sekulow, in addition to anyone from the American Center for Law and Justice legal organization he heads, declined to comment for this story.<h2>Who is he?</h2>Jay Alan Sekulow, 61, was born in Brooklyn, New York.A seminal moment for Sekulow happened in college, when the Jewish New Yorker underwent a spiritual awakening and found Jesus. It would become the starter for his involvement with the non-profit organization Jews for Jesus, which led him to his first battle in front of the Supreme Court. And, later, to his partnership with televangelist Pat Robertson and his crusade for causes important to the religious right.But before he found himself arguing constitutional law before the nation's highest court, Sekulow was an Atlanta-based tax attorney who ran his own law firm almost as soon as he left college.Jeffrey Cohen, an Atlanta tax attorney, worked at Sekulow's firm in the early 1980s. It wasn't a fruitful partnership, as Cohen sued Sekulow after he failed to pay Cohen a promised year-end $20,000 bonus after an eight-month stint at the firm. Cohen won the suit, and he told Business Insider the jury gave him everything he wanted "plus attorney's fees." In 1991, <a href="http://forward.com/news/national/374864/meet-jay-sekulow-a-jewish-born-believer-in-jesus-on-trumps-legal-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">he described the experience at Sekulow's firm</a> as "an eight-month nightmare."Cohen said he's only spoken to Sekulow one time over the past three decades - a 10 second "cordial" exchange in the Atlanta airport. Although he sued Sekulow, Cohen said the two "never had a bad relationship" during his stint at the firm."We weren't what I would call friends, we weren't butting heads either," he said.Cohen described the young Sekulow as "fantastically successful.""One thing I'll never forget about him was that given that he was younger than me," Cohen said. "And I was young."He continued: "His law firm was very new, he hadn't been practicing law a long time at all. Yet he was mind-numbingly successful at bringing in new clients, a number of clients. ... He was very charming and an excellent business generator."The Atlanta tax attorney admitted to seeing some of the clips of Sekulow on TV defending Trump, expressing little surprise."This is a man who's had his own television show, radio show, been in the public eye and he is very comfortable, evidently, in front of the camera, behind a microphone," he said. "And I am not surprised at all that he is that smooth and eloquent as he was back then. He was a prodigy in terms of being impressive and charming and never at a loss for words. I compliment him highly from that standpoint."Things came to a quick crash for Sekulow from his early days in Atlanta. In 1986, after he and his associates were sued for fraud and securities violations related to a development project, Sekulow declared bankruptcy. Later that year, he signed on as general counsel for Jews for Jesus.The following year, he won a 9-0 decision for the group at the Supreme Court, arguing in defense of Jews for Jesus' right to hand pamphlets out at the Los Angeles International Airport. It was the first of 12 cases he'd argue before the Supreme Court over the next 21 years, almost all of which were similar in nature to the Jews for Jesus case.In 1992, he joined forces with Robertson and became chief legal counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which was dubbed a conservative alternative to the American Civil Liberties Union. That organization <a href="http://forward.com/news/national/374864/meet-jay-sekulow-a-jewish-born-believer-in-jesus-on-trumps-legal-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has since expanded </a>throughout the world to promote Christian and religious-right causes.Sekulow has previously come under fire for reportedly using the ACLJ, where he is chief executive officer, and another legal nonprofit, Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE), to build "a financial empire that generates millions of dollars a year and supports a lavish lifestyle - complete with multiple homes, chauffeur-driven cars, and a private jet that he once used to ferry Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia," <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/338507-sekulow-becomes-face-of-trumps-legal-team" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to a 2005 story</a> in Legal Times.In 2011, a Tennessean <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/us/politics/jay-sekulow-trump-lawyer.html?_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">investigation reported</a> that the two non-profits paid out "$33 million to members of Sekulow's family and businesses they own or co-own" over a span of 13 years.Screenshot/Fox News SundayJay Sekulow.Both organizations have raked in millions of dollars.The ACLJ, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-20/the-new-face-of-trump-s-legal-team-is-the-christian-right-s-pitbull" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg reported</a>, pulled in more than $19 million in grants and contributions in 2015, the most recent year an IRS filing is available. Sekulow's family members occupy many of the organization's most important positions, including chief financial officer, chief executive officer, and director of major donors. Although Bloomberg found that the filing showed Sekulow received no salary from the ACLJ in 2015, the nonprofit transferred more than $5 million to a Washington law firm that Sekulow is a 50% owner of.CASE, the other non-profit, raised more than $52 million in 2015, according to its filing. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-20/the-new-face-of-trump-s-legal-team-is-the-christian-right-s-pitbull" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg reported</a> that four of Sekulow's family members, including his wife and brother, serve on the CASE board of directors, and the organization transferred roughly $16 million to the ACLJ in addition to payments of about $1.2 million to Sekulow-owned businesses.Michael McLachlan, a Colorado attorney who served as the state's solicitor general in 1999, when he won a Supreme Court decision for the state over Sekulow in Hill v. Colorado, pointed to Sekulow's money-making abilities as a cause for question during an interview with Business Insider."He's kind of like what I would consider a legal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday#Wages_of_success" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Billy Sunday</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Gantry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elmer Gantry</a>," McLachlan said, referencing the early 20th Century evangelist and his fictional 1920s evangelical peer who both made a great deal of money from their preaching. "He's in the camp raiding the money.""These little old ladies mailing in their welfare checks to the 700 Club and to [Sekulow] ... Hey, I mean I think that somebody needs to get a little handle on what he's making millions and millions of dollars a year on television," he said. "And, he's a good lawyer, don't misunderstand me, I'm not faulting him as being a good lawyer."McLachlan, who served a brief stint as a Democratic representative in the Colorado House of Representatives earlier this decade, said there's "no doubt that" Sekulow is "experienced in Supreme Court arguments," but added that "he's successful in my opinion more than he should be.""As far as the merits of what he does, he's an extremely effective voice for the religious right," he said. "And at the same time, he's making millions and millions of dollars a year, really, fundraising through television. And it's very unique. I would love to see his tax returns."Sekulow, who had influential roles as a Supreme Court adviser to President George W. Bush and as an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012, has mostly transitioned from Supreme Court litigator to television pundit in recent years. Sekulow is a frequent guest on Fox News host Sean Hannity's program, and on a number of Christian broadcasting programs. He <a href="http://forward.com/news/national/374864/meet-jay-sekulow-a-jewish-born-believer-in-jesus-on-trumps-legal-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">also hosts</a> "Jay Sekulow Live!" along with his son, Jordan. The show is syndicated on satellite radio."Jay is a incredible lawyer, a gifted communicator," Hannity told Business Insider in an email. "His track record with Supreme Court cases speaks for itself. He knows and understands the law, the Constitution and is a passionate articulate advocate for those he represents."<h2>"I think people are missing the strategic intent behind it"</h2>David French, a longtime friend and former colleague of Sekulow's at the ACLJ, told Business Insider that it makes perfect sense for Trump to bring on the attorney to his legal team.Even though most onlookers are questioning why a lawyer with Sekulow's background in fighting for legal causes of the religious right would fit into the picture in this instance, French, now a writer at The National Review, said it actually makes perfect sense, adding that onlookers are "missing" something big in their analysis."I'm hearing all these people say 'oh, well, Jay is not a white-collar criminal defense lawyer,'" French said. "They totally misunderstand the nature of this proceeding. I don't think the real issue is 'will Donald Trump face a jury in the Southern District of New York or in DC.' The really important issue is 'is this a scandal that can threaten a presidency up to the potential of impeachment?' That's the real guts of this. And that's a political question that is heavily influenced by legal arguments.""Jay's a very, very good lawyer," he continued. "But what he's been spending years doing is making political arguments from a legal perspective. And he's a master at it. So no, it doesn't surprise me one bit that Trump would hire Jay or retain Jay for that purpose. And I think people are missing the strategic intent behind it and the strategic sense of it."AP Photo/Steve HelberJay Sekulow.French, who co-authored a 2014 book with Sekulow about the Islamic State terror group, called Sekulow a "very effective" and "very forceful public communicator.""Unfortunately, Trump has been ill-served by some of his spokesmen," he said. "Now, Trump compounds a heck of a lot of his problems with his irresponsible and reckless tweeting and his own lack of discipline. I mean, arguably he's right now sleeping in a bed that he has made through his own statements and his own actions. But, you know, if there's one thing that he needs, it's forceful and effective public advocates who can go into the court of public opinion and make a strong legal argument and put it in a way that people can and will understand."To French, it's becoming clear that Sekulow is becoming the public face of Trump's legal team."If you just judge Jay's performance vs. some of the other legal spokespeople for Trump, I think Jay's in his element," French said.McLachlan also said he too was not surprised to see Trump tap Sekulow to join the legal team."In fact, it's in my opinion it really is par for the course as far as [Sekulow's] career path," he said. "And you know, President Trump's close to Pat Robertson, he's close to Liberty University, he's close to the religious right."It's clear too to McLachlan that Sekulow is going to be the face of Trump's high-profile team. McLachlan thinks the president wanted it this way because Sekulow "has a huge following" and "is articulate."McLachlan pointed to Sekulow's interview with Wallace."As you saw in the interview he did on television, the president tweeted 'I am under investigation.' Those are a series of unequivocal words," McLachlan said. "And [then] Jay Sekulow got into his mealy mouth an explanation that made it sound as if he's not really sure." <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/listen-leaked-audio-australia-prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-mocking-trump-2017-6">Listen to the leaked audio of Australia's prime minister mocking Trump</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

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