Jay Alan Sekulow (; born June 10, 1956) is an American lawyer, radio, television talk show host and politically conservative media personality. He has been chief counsel of the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) since 1991. As a member of President Donald Trump's legal team, he served as lead outside counsel for Trump's first impeachment trial in the United States Senate.
Sekulow built a legal and media business over a thirty-year period by representing conservative, religious, and anti-abortion groups. He hosts a syndicated radio show and is a frequent guest commentator on the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Fox News Channel television networks.
Early life and education
Jay Alan Sekulow was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Natalie (née Wortman) and Stanley Sekulow.
Sekulow was raised on Long Island, in the town of Jericho. He came from a Jewish family, attended Hebrew School, and had a bar mitzvah. While in high school Sekulow and his family moved to Atlanta, where he graduated from Lakeside High School, then earned a B.A. in 1977 and a J.D. from Mercer University in 1980. While attending Atlanta Baptist College (now the Atlanta campus of Mercer University), Sekulow became interested in Christianity and converted to Messianic Judaism after encountering Jews for Jesus. Sekulow earned a Ph.D. from Regent University in 2004, writing his dissertation on religious influence on Supreme Court Justices and their opinions.
Career and business ownership
After graduating from law school, Sekulow worked at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a prosecutor with the tax litigation division for "about 18 months."
In 1982, he opened a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia, with former Mercer classmate Stuart J. Roth which soon evolved into a business buying, renovating, and selling historic properties as a tax shelter for wealthy investors. IRS regulations changed in the mid-eighties, and the firm collapsed when investors sued the owners for fraud and securities violations. Sekulow and Roth filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief in 1987, with Sekulow listing $13 million in liabilities and $638,000 in assets, and leaving "a trail of angry investors and employees."
In 1987 Sekulow became general counsel for Jews for Jesus. In 1988 he founded the nonprofit group Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE) whose president he is and whose board members are him, his wife, and their two sons.
In 1992, Sekulow became the director of the ACLJ, where he was chief counsel and principal officer in 2018. In the early 1990s he also joined the faculty at Regent University Law School.
Sekulow is half-owner of the for-profit professional corporation Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, P.C., incorporated in 2003, whose governor and executive officer is Roth. From 2011 to 2016, the ACLJ paid the group $23 million, "its largest outside expense."
Sekulow owns Regency Productions, the company that produces his radio show and was paid $11.3 million by the two charities for production services between 2000 and 2017.
Sekulow hosts Jay Sekulow Live!, a syndicated daily radio program broadcast on terrestrial radio, and XM and Sirius satellite radios. This live call-in program focuses on legal and legislative topics. Sekulow is the host of ACLJ This Week, a weekly television news program broadcast on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar.
Counsel to President Trump
Beginning in 2017, Sekulow served as a personal attorney to President Donald Trump during the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and investigations by Congressional committees into the myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies.
Sekulow also served as lead outside counsel for Trump during his impeachment proceedings in 2019 and 2020. He made several allegedly false statements on the Senate floor during the first Trump impeachment trial.
Sekulow also represented Trump confidant and Fox News host Sean Hannity during the investigation by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.