RNC hires lawyers focused on election-related concerns

The Republican National Committee has hired two new lawyers to lead its legal efforts, a source familiar with the hires told NBC News.

The move comes as the organization focuses on voting and election-related concerns following the Trump campaign’s effective take-over of its leadership.

Republican lawyer Charlie Spies will serve as RNC’s chief counsel, the source said. Spies recently worked for Michigan Republican Rep. John James and previously served in Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. He notably rejected the prevalent election denialism in the party while speaking on a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2021, drawing shouts from the crowd.

Christina Bobb, who has served on the Trump campaign’s legal team and is a prominent figure in pushing the GOP’s unfounded claims of a stolen 2020 election, will serve as senior counsel for election integrity, the source said. Bobb confirmed she joined the RNC in a post to X.

Bobb emerged as a key player in Trump’s legal battles over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. In 2022, she certified to the FBI that all of the relevant material sought by investigators had been turned over — information that Evan Corcoran, another Trump lawyer, told her, according to the indictment against the former president.

Bobb has also appeared as an on-air personality for Trump-backing right-wing media outlets One America News Network and Right Side Broadcasting Network. She attended Trump’s party at his Mar-a-Lago residence on the night of Super Tuesday.

Spies and Bobb did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

The RNC’s hiring of Spies and Bobb follows mass layoffs at the organization and the installation there of two new Trump-approved leaders: Michael Whatley, the former chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, as the group’s chairman and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, as its co-chair, NBC News previously reported.

Chris LaCivita, a Trump co-campaign manager, was recently appointed as chief operating officer of the RNC. Sean Cairncross, who led RNC operations from 2015 to 2016, was tapped by LaCivita to serve as his deputy.

Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel announced her resignation last month after Trump endorsed Whatley to lead the RNC.