DOJ Tax Alumnus John Dowd Speaks Up for Jack Smith (12/18/25)

John Dowd, a DOJ Tax Alumnus, authored this opinion piece in MS Now:  I was Donald Trump’s lawyer. Jack Smith should be celebrated, not vilified (MS Now 12/16/25), here. 

Of course, every person who has bothered to become informed and is not blinded by bias (ideology, self-promotion, etc.) knows that Jack Smith is a class act. Smith should be able to tell his side of the story in an open public session where everyone participating (Smith and congressmen) can show who they really are.

Dowd also is a class act. Dowd’s Wikipedia page is here.

Great Article on DOJ Tax Alumnus, George Elias (12/16/25)

Florida Bar News has this article: Samadhi Jones, Miami's George Elias nears 99 still practicing, mentoring, and giving back (12/15/25), here.

DOJ Tax relevant excerpts:

At age 23, in his first job out of law school, Elias found himself sitting before the U.S. Supreme Court at the solicitor general’s table on the team that handled treason cases before Chief Justice Earl Warren, Justice Hugo Black, et al. Chief Justice Warren himself admitted Elias to the Supreme Court Bar less than two years later. Elias later transferred to the tax division before moving to Miami where he opened a private practice in trust and tax law, a practice that he continues to operate today.

It is not clear to me, but I infer that he may have been first in the SG’s office and then transferred to the Tax Division. If so, that would have been an unusual trajectory to the Tax Division.

There is much more about his life in the article. I highly recommend that DOJ Tax Alumni click the link and read it.