William Stepien is an American

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

who served as the

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's 2020 presidential campaign beginning in July of that year. A member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

, he was the White House Director of Political Affairs in the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

from 2017 to 2018. Stepien managed both of Chris Christie's gubernatorial campaigns and served as his Deputy Chief of Staff before being fired in 2014 after Christie said he "lost confidence" in Stepien's judgmentJohnson, Brent, and Susan K. Livio
"7 things to know about new Trump advisor jettisoned by Christie after Bridgegate"
'' NJ.com'', August 27, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016. for his role in the Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as Bridgegate, in which Stepien approved of the action, meant to embarrass a Democratic mayor.

Early career

Born to a family of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

origin, Stepien graduated from

West Morris Central High School West Morris Central High School (WMCHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It is one of two high schools in ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Stepien began his political career working on

Anthony Bucco Anthony R. Bucco (February 24, 1938 – September 16, 2019) was an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1998, where he represented the 25th Legislative District until his death. Bucco served as Co-Major ...

's 1997 State Senate campaign, and on Bob Franks' 2000 U.S. Senate race. He worked for Public Opinion Strategies and DuHaime Communications before managing Bill Baroni's 2003 bid for New Jersey State Assembly—the only Republican to oust a Democratic incumbent that year. Stepien served as Political Director of the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign in New Hampshire, and as Director of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

's 72-Hour Campaign in 2005 and 2006. In 2008, he was a Regional Campaign Manager for Senator John S. McCain's presidential campaign before serving as National Field Director, a role in which he also served for New York Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

's presidential campaign in 2007-08. He also served in the same role for Presidential hopeful Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Campaign.

Campaign and administration

Stepien served as campaign manager in Chris Christie's successful campaign for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

in 2009. Christie's first major announcement after winning the election was the naming of four top staffers, including Stepien as a Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. In April 2013, Stepien resigned from that position to become the manager of Christie's re-election campaign. His replacement as Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs was Bridget Anne Kelly. On January 7, 2014, Christie announced that he wanted Stepien to take over the chairmanship of the New Jersey Republican Party from

Sam Raia Samuel S. Raia is a Republican Party politician who is the former of Mayor of Saddle River, New Jersey and past Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Raia has served as mayor of Saddle River from 2009 to 2017 and had served on ...

. On January 7, 2014, Christie said, "I’ve asked Bill Stepien to be our new State Party Chairman because no one better understands how to grow our party, communicate our message and, most importantly, win elections... Bill Stepien is the best Republican operative in the country, and New Jersey Republicans will be fortunate to have him leading our Party."

Fort Lee lane closure scandal

On January 9, two days after nominating Stepien for the chairmanship of the New Jersey Republican Party, Christie announced that he had "lost my confidence in Bill's judgment," and he asked Stepien to withdraw his name from consideration. The turnaround was a result of Stepien's work on Christie's re-election campaign, where he became embroiled in the Fort Lee lane closure scandal to the George Washington Bridge. This was enacted by Christie's staff as political retribution toward

Mark Sokolich Mark J. Sokolich ( ; born 1963) is an American attorney and politician. He serves as the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. He is also the managing partner of the law firm that he founded. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life Sokoli ...

(D) the Mayor of Fort Lee, NJ for his failure to support Christie’s campaign. The closure of the Fort Lee bridge entrance caused massive delays and gridlock in New Jersey traffic including that from Fort Lee. Bridget Anne Kelly (R) Deputy Chief of Staff for Christie and romantically involved with Stepien, Bill Baroni (R) Appointee to the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

, and David Wildstein (R) Appointee to the

were all found guilty. Stepien was fired. In the trial in September 2016 about the lanes closures, federal prosecution witness David Wildstein said that Stepien was aware of the lane closures as they were happening. They eventually discovered that Stepien was also in a romantic relationship with Bridget Kelly, his replacement as Christie's deputy chief of staff. Their relationship lasted until August 2013, as the plan to close the lanes was being implemented. Though their personal relationship was over, Stepien was kept abreast of the lane closures and the intended fallout. It was the emails between Stepien and those involved in the lane closures that sealed his fate. Christie said, "I was disturbed by the tone and behavior and attitude of callous indifference that was displayed in the emails by my former campaign manager, Bill Stepien." Stepien then received a subpoena to submit documents to the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

panel investigating the lane closures. In a 19-page letter sent to Reid Schar, Special Counsel to the joint Senate and Assembly committee, Stepien's lawyer cited Stepien’s Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination, noting that in addition to the legislative probe, a federal criminal inquiry into the lane closures was also underway. Judge Jacobson of the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that Stepien was not required to comply with the legislative subpoenas to produce documents since they were written too broadly, and he was also protected under the Fifth Amendment. In May his lawyer also contended that a report produced on behalf of the Governor's Office misrepresented his client. Two months after being fired, Stepien made a "soft landing" at the data and phone bank giant FLS Connect, which hired him to work on sales and strategy.

Nassau Strategies

Stepien's firm, Nassau Strategies LLC, is based out of a residential home on Knob Hill Road in Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey. The firm benefited from Christie's chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association, as did many other New Jersey-based consulting firms. In December 2013, the RGA paid Stepien's firm $15,000, just a month before Christie cut ties with Stepien. On December 8, 2014, GOPAC made a retainer payment of $6,000 to Nassau Strategies for political strategy consulting.

Trump's campaign and administration

In August 2016 Stepien was hired to work for

Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump was formally launched on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, having won the most state prim ...

. Stepien was named the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

political director on January 20, 2017. In December 2018, Stepien and White House Director of Public Liaison

Justin Clark Justin Clark (born October 17, 1988, Atlanta, Georgia) is an American soccer player who most recently played for Orlando City in USL Pro, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. Career College and Professional Clark attended Marist ...

were named Senior Political Advisors to the President's re-election campaign focusing on delegate and party organization. In 2019, Stepien, along with Trump, worked to convince New Jersey Democratic congressman

Jeff Van Drew Jefferson H. Van Drew (born February 23, 1953) is an American politician and dentist serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district since 2019. Formerly a Democrat, he has been a member of the Republican Party sin ...

to switch to the Republican Party during the

first impeachment of Donald Trump Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the first time by the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress on December 18, 2019. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse ...

. In December 2019, Van Drew hired Stepien as an adviser to his 2020 re-election campaign. On July 15, 2020, Trump announced Stepien's promotion to campaign manager for Trump's 2020 presidential campaign, replacing

Brad Parscale Brad Parscale (born January 3, 1976) is an American digital consultant and political advisor who served as the senior adviser for data and digital operations for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign. He previously served as the digital medi ...

. On October 2, 2020, it was reported that Stepien had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Post-2020 career

After the 2020 election, Stepien, along with two former members of the Trump 2020 presidential campaign, Justin Clark and Nick Trainer, formed a political consultancy firm, National Public Affairs. As of June 2022, they were managing the campaign of

Harriet Hageman Harriet Maxine Hageman (born October 18, 1962) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district since 2023. She is a member of the Republican Par ...

, a Republican running against Representative

Liz Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2017, with her term expiring in January 2023. She chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest p ...

in 2022.

January 6 hearings

On June 13, 2022, Stepien was scheduled to testify in front of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol Attack, but said he was unable to appear because his wife was in labor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepien, Bill year of birth missing (living people) People from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey American political consultants Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Living people New Jersey Republicans People associated with the 2016 United States presidential election Rutgers University alumni Trump administration personnel West Morris Central High School alumni New Jersey politicians convicted of crimes