Thomas Liddy (born July 20, 1962) is an American attorney and political candidate in Maricopa County, Arizona. He is the son of the

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

figure

G. Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon admi ...

Early life and education

Liddy was born July 20, 1962, in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

. He is the fourth of Gordon and Frances Liddy's five children. The family moved to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1970 when Gordon Liddy began to work for President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Liddy graduated from the St. Albans School in 1981. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1986 and spent his junior year abroad in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, where he studied economics and theology and learned to speak

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. After serving in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, he returned to Fordham and earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1992.

Career

Military service

Liddy was sworn in as a U.S. Marine on December 28, 1982, while at Fordham and attended the Officer Candidates School of the United States Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, during the summer. He was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Marines in April 1985. He served on active duty from 1986 until 1989. He was an 81mm mortar platoon commander and later the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

Weapons Company A weapons company, sometimes called a manoeuvre support company, is a company (military), company-sized military unit attached to an infantry battalion to support the rifle companies of the battalion. It usually possesses some combination of machine ...

3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. He served in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Okinawa, Japan; South Korea; and the Philippines. Liddy left the Marines in 1989 and returned to Fordham to study law. He remained in the

Marine Reserves A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural ...

until 1998.

Legal work

After law school, he worked in a Washington, D.C. law firm for several years. From 1995 to 1998, he served as deputy counsel 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 ...

, appointed by RNC chairman

Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican ...

. From 2003 to 2004, he served as the chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party. In 2006, he was appointed by then-Mayor Phil Gordon to serve as chairman of the Phoenix Veterans Commission. Liddy also served as the litigation bureau chief of Maricopa County, where he was responsible for managing special litigation services. He has since worked in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Major cases

* ''Friendly House v. Whiting'', representing Maricopa County

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He served as the 36th Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, losing reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone ...

, where he argued before

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

Judge Susan R. Bolton defending Arizona's controversial S.B. 1070 * ''Melendres v. Arpaio'', with co-counsel Tim Casey, defended Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in the three-week racial profiling trial, in the United States District Court for Arizona in the summer of 2012. *In 2020, Liddy defended Maricopa County in ''Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. vs. Hobbs and Maricopa County''. Liddy argued that Sharpie pens and "over votes" were not the reason that former Vice President Biden received more votes than President Trump in the November 3, 2020, election in Maricopa County. Once Maricopa County presented its evidence, the attorney for Donald Trump moved the court to dismiss the lawsuit. * ''Lake v. Hobbs'', representing Maricopa County, Liddy argued that Lake lost the election for governor of Arizona not because of voter suppression or printer errors, but because her campaign failed to get enough voters to cast their ballots for her.

2000 congressional election

In 2000, Liddy was a Republican candidate for Arizona's 1st congressional district. He finished fourth in a field of five candidates with 20.70% of the votes. The winner was

Jeff Flake Jeffry Lane Flake (born December 31, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current U.S Ambassador to Turkey. A member of the Republican Party, Flake served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013 and ...

with 31.80% who went on to win the seat in the general election.

Media

Liddy was a nationally syndicated conservative

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

host. Along with Austin Hill, Liddy hosted the ''Liddy & Hill Show'' on KFYI from 2003 until moving to KKNT in October 2006. Liddy created "PC Friday" to mock the concept of

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

and was known for his parody songs, such as "The Day Dan Rather Lied".

Personal life

Liddy married his wife Stacy (née Gretkowski) in 1991 while in law school. Stacy has worked as an elementary school teacher. They have four children and live in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liddy, Tom American talk radio hosts Politicians from Poughkeepsie, New York Living people 1962 births Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona Politicians from Scottsdale, Arizona Arizona Republicans