John Sauer

Trump defense attorney and pick to become US Solicitor General, anti-abortion former Missouri solicitor general

Sauer was solicitor general of Missouri from 2017 through 2022 under Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, when they each served as Missouri attorney general. Sauer served as a federal prosecutor for five years and spent time in civil practice at boutique law firms, including the firm he founded, the James Otis Law Group. Sauer has first-chaired many jury and bench trials, and served as lead counsel in many appeals. Mr. Sauer served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was a Rhodes Scholar and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. After leaving the Missouri Attorney General’s Office in 2023, Sauer has made substantial donations to anti-abortion causes in the state. This year, he contributed $777,000 to Missouri anti-abortion groups, including $277,000 to two groups that opposed a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Relationships Interlocks Giving Data

Positions

Ethics and Public Policy Center DC-based conservative think tank

• attorney

James Otis Law Group, LLC John Sauer Missouri law firm

• Position

In the office of

J Michael Luttig General Counsel, The Boeing Company

• law clerk (past)

Antonin Scalia Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

• law clerk (past)

Josh Hawley Missouri U.S. senator, former Missouri attorney general

• Position

Government Positions

Office of the Solicitor General Assistant to the U.S. DOJ Attorney General

• Position

State of Missouri

• Solicitor general (past)

Donations

Missouri Right to Life PAC

• Donation/Grant · 50,000 USD

Federal Election Campaign Contributions

WinRed Republican Party (GOP) fundraising platform endorsed by the Republican National Committee

• 2 contributions · 8,400 USD (Jun 16 '20→Nov 22 '20)

Donald Trump 45th President of the United States; Former host of The Apprentice Reality show; Real estate developer

• 1 contribution · 5,600 USD (Jun 16 '20)

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc Donald Trump's Campaign Committee June 2015

• 1 contribution · 5,600 USD (Jun 16 '20)

Perdue for Senate

• 1 contribution · 2,800 USD (Nov 22 '20)

David Perdue Former: Georgia US Senator, head of Reebok, Dollar General

• 1 contribution · 2,800 USD (Nov 22 '20)

Family

Fred N. Sauer John Sauers' anti-abortion father; founder of Orion Investment Co. in Clayton Missouri

• father

Schools

Harvard Law School

• JD

Miscellaneous Relationships

Federalist Society An organization of conservatives and libertarians seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

• Affiliation