Lanny Jesse Davis is an American political operative, lawyer, consultant, lobbyist, author, and television commentator. He is the co-founder and partner of the law firm of Davis Goldberg & Galper PLLC, and co-founder and partner of the public relations firm Trident DMG. From 1996 to 1998, he served as a special counsel to President Bill Clinton and was a legal spokesperson for the President and the White House amid a litany of investigations.
In July 2018, Davis was hired by Michael Cohen, a former personal attorney to Donald Trump, to represent Cohen in his testimony before Congress regarding President Donald Trump. Davis later represented Cohen when he pleaded guilty to tax fraud, bank fraud, and violation of campaign finance laws on August 21, 2018.
Davis's clients have included Harvey Weinstein, Porton Group, National Women's History Museum, National Black Chamber of Commerce, eHealth, Sofitel Hotels, Trent Lott, Gene Upshaw, Dan Snyder, Martha Stewart, Shannon Sharpe, and the Office of the President at Penn State University. Davis has been a regular television commentator and political and legal analyst for MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and network television news programs. He wrote a column called "Purple Nation," and his writing appeared in publications including Fox News, The Hill, The Huffington Post, and The Daily Caller. A Yale Law School graduate, he won the Thurman Arnold Moot Court prize and contributed to the Yale Law Journal.
In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Davis to serve as the only Democratic member of the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, created by the U.S. Congress as part of the 2005 Intelligence Reform Act.
