President-elect Donald Trump nominated Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights, he announced Monday.
“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
A 2020 Trump campaign legal adviser who begged for the Supreme Court to intervene in the presidential election over baseless claims of fraud, Dhillon’s track record indeed falls squarely on the side of conservative causes.
In 2017, Dhillon represented UC Berkeley College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation when she sued the school after it cancelled a speaking appearance by right-wing commentator Ann Coulter, purportedly over safety concerns.
Later that year, Dhillon represented former Google engineer James Damore, who was fired from the tech giant after he wrote an internal memo criticizing its culture and diversity policies.
Two years later, Dhillon represented conservative journalist and social media influencer Andy Ngo in a suit against left-wing activist group Antifa after Ngo was injured in Portland, Oregon, by counter-protesters during a Proud Boys rally.
Another point on Dhillon’s resume that Trump alluded to was how she filed several suits against California’s stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Dhillon represented pastors and churchgoers, as well as several businesses.
Dhillon also represented former Fox News host Tucker Carlson after he was sued for gender discrimination by Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Carlson’s show. That suit, as well as another by Grossberg alleging Fox coerced her into giving false testimony, resulted in a settlement where Fox paid her $12 million.
The former vice chairperson for the California GOP, Dhillon in 2023 unsuccessfully ran to unseat Ronna McDaniel as Republican National Committee chair.
In the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the Arizona Republican Party brought Dhillon on to run its election integrity program.
