Nicolas David Muzin is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
-
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
strategist,
attorney and
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
. He was a paid consultant for The Nation of Qatar. Prior to that, he served as the director of coalitions for the United States House Republican Conference
[Official website of US Senator Ted Cru]
Sen. Cruz Names Nick Muzin Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy
July 2, 2014 and was a senior adviser and deputy chief of staff for Republican candidate for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Sen.
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
. After the 2016 elections, he went on to work as a lobbyist, filing and registering under FARA as a foreign agent, first for the Democratic (opposition) party of Albania.
Early life
Muzin was raised in a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, and is the son of Helen and Gary Muzin. His father is the president of a construction distribution and supply company.
[''The New York Times']
Weddings/Celebrations – Andrea Zucker, Nicholas Muzin
July 9, 2006
Education
Muzin attended
Ner Israel Yeshiva High School in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. After spending some post-high school time at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, he attended
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universi ...
in the
Washington Heights section of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. While there, he served as
editor in chief of the school newspaper, ''The Commentator'', graduating in 1997. Muzin then completed
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...
on a full four-year scholarship in 2001. Following a year as an internal medicine intern, Muzin proceeded to
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
. At Yale, Nicolas was a member of the Jewish leadership society
Shabtai.
Career
Early career
In 2000, Muzin supported the
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
/
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
ticket.
[Canadian-born Orthodox Jew Nick Muzin helps boost black GOP Sen. Tim Scott to prominence](_blank)
February 12, 2013 He joined
George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign as counsel for the
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...
and served as a medical adviser for the
2008 presidential campaign of Sen.
John McCain.
From 2005 to 2008, Muzin was of council at
Williams & Connolly.
Work with Tim Scott
Dr. Muzin was chief of staff and policy adviser for then Charleston City Councilmember
Tim Scott
Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Carolina since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Go ...
during his successful 2010 campaign for
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
following the retirement of Rep.
Henry Brown. Muzin served as Scott's chief of staff until December 2011. Muzin was “instrumental in paving Scott’s way” and Scott revealed “without Muzin’s entreaties…
emay not have run for the Charleston-area House seat that opened.” Nick Muzin arrayed on his dining room table what would turn out to be the winning strategy to elect the first black Republican to Congress from South Carolina in more than a century. “Initially, I was fairly reluctant. I did not have my sights set on Washington,” Scott said. “He was crucial in helping me to get to that conclusion.”
Muzin and Scott bonded over health policy, and interest in each other's beliefs. “The close alliance – and friendship — between a black Tea Party Republican from the South and an Orthodox doctor-lawyer from Canada is a rarity in politics, and upends perceptions about how blacks and Jews interact.” Scott, in a state where the Jewish vote barely registered, released a statement in support of Israel after the May 2010 clash with a Gaza-bound flotilla. Scott's focus on and support of Israel, which has remained throughout his entire career, even made it into an “Saturday Night Live” skit.
The end of 2012 saw promotions for both Muzin and Scott. Muzin became the director of strategy and coalitions for the House Republican Conference for the 113th Congress, and Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley. Muzin remained involved with Scott during his transition from the House to his current position in the Senate, and Muzin became the national political director for the
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
political action committee ''Tomorrow is Meaningful'' (TIM-PAC).
Recently established by Tim Scott. TIM-PAC focuses on encouraging entrepreneurship, private market-driven health care, tax reform, strengthening ties with longtime U.S. ally
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and an additional aim of sourcing viable candidates to bolster the
Tea Party movement's political base.
In 2013, Dr. Muzin successfully performed the
Heimlich maneuver
Abdominal thrusts, also known as the Heimlich maneuver or Heimlich manoeuvre, is a first aid procedure used to treat upper airway obstructions (or choking) by foreign objects. American doctor Henry Heimlich is often credited for its creation. ...
on Congressman
Ted Poe
Lloyd Theodore Poe (born September 10, 1948) is an American politician who represented Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2019. Poe was the first Republican to represent the 2nd district. ...
, saving his life after the congressman started choking on a piece of popcorn.
Work with Ted Cruz
Recruited by Chad Sweet, national campaign chairman for Sen.
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
, Muzin served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff for strategy for Cruz's Republican candidacy for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
in the
2016 election.
Cruz stated that he used Muzin as a sounding board on issues related to Judaism and to gain a deeper understanding of the religion and the broader community.
In July 2016, Muzin was considered by
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universi ...
, his
alma mater, for the position of university
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
.
Donald Trump Administration
During the 2017 legislative session, Muzin played a key role in the passage of the First Step Act, a major piece of criminal justice legislation. It was a particularly difficult time for criminal justice reform, and among the most important holdouts on the Republican side at the time was Texas senator Ted Cruz. The key to reaching Cruz was Muzin, who "arranged a conference call which included long-time Cruz supporters, prominent Texan rabbinic leaders, influential legal figures like Alan Dershowitz, former attorney general Michael Mukasey, and conservative thought leaders, with multiple speakers covering the issue from personal, religious, moral, policy, and legal perspectives." Just over a week later, on December 7 — which, Muzin observes, “was Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz, when we read of Yosef being released from prison” — Cruz announced his support for the legislation. With Cruz's change of heart and that of a few others, the First Step Act passed with an overwhelming majority of 87–12. The First Step Act was backed by a remarkable coalition of conservative and liberal groups, and its passage is one of the rare bipartisan successes of this time period.
In February 2018, it was reported by ''
Haaretz'' and ''
The Times of Israel
''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman. '' that the
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
i Government had hired Nick Muzin to improve the Emirates's relations with the
Trump Administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...
and the
Jewish American community. Muzin's work reportedly included arranging meetings between Qatari officials and leaders of Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups. In September 2017, "Muzin registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for Qatar."
Muzin and
Joey Allaham introduced Qataris to prominent American Jewish figures and offered them trips to Doha to meet with the Emir of Qatar and other prominent government officials. American Jewish leaders who accepted trips organized by Allaham and Muzin included
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
, head of the
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...
Mort Klein, and
Malcolm Hoenlein
Malcolm Hoenlein has been the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since June 1986. He is the founding executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Jewish ...
.
On June 6, 2018, Muzin declared on Twitter that he had stopped working for Qatar.
Recent Business
Nicolas Muzin is the Founder and Chairman of Stonington Global, a specialized law and consulting firm based in Washington, where he focuses on strategic international advisory and private equity work and practices as an attorney. The firm provides programming services to Voice of America Persian, the American government-backed media outlet that produces journalistic content for the Iranian community. Stonington Global also works on pro bono issues related to criminal justice reform, religious freedom and human rights.
In December 2020, Nick Muzin, Alan Dershowitz, and other criminal justice reform advocates helped seek clemency for Eliyahu (“Eli”) Weinstein, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for fraudulent real estate transactions, the longest sentence in the history of New Jersey for such an offense. In January, President Trump commuted Weinstein's sentence to time served, and wrote “Mr. Weinstein is the father of seven children and a loving husband…Upon his release, he will have strong support from his community and members of his faith. The New York Times wrote that Muzin and Dershowitz's "combination of access, influence and substantive expertise...produced striking results" in winning clemency.
Personal life
Muzin is an
Orthodox Jew
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
.
[''Jewish Insider']
2016 Watch: Cruz Hires Nick Muzin
July 3, 2014
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muzin, Nicolas
Living people
Canadian expatriates in the United States
Canadian lawyers
Canadian Orthodox Jews
Physicians from New York City
Jewish Canadian activists
Jewish physicians
Activists from Toronto
Canadian activists
Year of birth missing (living people)