President-elect Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he selected Will Scharf, one of his personal attorneys, to serve as White House staff secretary, a lower-profile role managing the paper flow to the president. 

Trump announced the news in a post on his Truth Social platform, writing that Scharf “is a highly skilled attorney who will be a crucial part of my White House team. He has played a key role in defeating the Election Interference and Lawfare waged against me, including by winning the Historic Immunity Decision in the Supreme Court.”

“Will has served as a federal prosecutor, worked diligently to confirm Judges and Justices during my first term, clerked for two Federal Appeals Court Judges, and was an award winning graduate at Harvard Law School and Magna Cum Laude at Princeton. Will is going to make us proud as we Make America Great Again,” Trump added.

Scharf, who is Jewish, ran for Missouri attorney general earlier this year, losing to Andrew Bailey in the GOP primary. Trump declined to endorse in the race given his close relationships with both men. 

Scharf has been part of the team representing Trump in his federal election interference and  immunity cases, the latter of which he argued before the Supreme Court. He was also a regular on the cable news circuit defending Trump during his New York trial. 

While with CRC Advisors, a conservative PR firm, Scharf worked on the Trump administration’s media strategy during the confirmation battles for Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Scharf became an assistant United States attorney from St. Louis in 2020, where he served in the violent crimes division. He also served as a policy director for then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican.

The White House staff secretary is responsible for overseeing the president’s document flow and has significant sway in deciding which memos, briefings, reports and other documents the president will receive. Rob Porter and Derek Lyons served in the role during Trump’s first term.