Bill McSwain

McSwain graduated from Yale University in 1991. After graduating from Yale, he spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry officer. He commanded a platoon in that role. He was successful in both cases. In published letters, McSwain defended George W. Bush-era "enhanced interrogation techniques" and, in 2016, criticized football player Colin Kaepernick as "uninformed and hypocritical" for his national anthem protests. ==Tenure as U.S. Attorney==

Nomination President Donald Trump nominated McSwain to be the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the nomination was received in the Senate on December 21, 2017. On March 15, 2018, his nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by voice vote. On March 20, 2018, the Senate confirmed McSwain's nomination by voice vote. Tenure During his time as U.S. Attorney, McSwain's public office spent $75,138 to put his face on four billboards in Philadelphia, as well as Allentown and Lancaster. The billboards had the slogan "Gun crime = fed time, no parole, every time," with McSwain's face taking up a third of the space on each billboard. The move was controversial because of the likelihood that the advertising would increase his name recognition and face recognition, However, a swath of Kensington residents felt “blindsided” by the proposal to introduce safe injection sites and questioned the legitimacy of the survey and whether its methods were scientific. McSwain contended that the 1986 federal "crack house statute" prohibited the establishment of supervised injection sites. He originally lost his case in U.S. District Court, but won on appeal in a 2–1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued on January 12, 2021. Judge Stephanos Bibas, writing for the majority, held that the 1986 law barred the proposal and that "Safehouse's benevolent motive makes no difference." Citing Gonzales v. Raich, the majority also held that "even though this drug use will happen locally and Safehouse will welcome visitors for free, its safe-injection site falls within Congress's power to ban interstate commerce in drugs." In April 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the case, on the grounds that the Free Exercise Clause does not apply for the creation of supervised injection sites. As U.S. Attorney, McSwain often publicly feuded with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, both Democrats. In an interview, in response to rising violent crime rates in Philadelphia, McSwain described the DA's policies as a failed "radical criminal justice experiment on the local level." Upon the announcement of his resignation on January 14, 2021, the District Attorney's office issued a statement saying they hope McSwain's successor has a sense of "humanity." McSwain pursued federal charges against Black Lives Matter activists who clashed with police by committing arson of police vehicles, in one case described as the “torching” of police cars during unrest in the summer of 2020. ==2022 gubernatorial campaign==

In March 2021, McSwain formed a political action committee, Freedom PA, to commence his bid for Pennsylvania Governor in 2022. In June 2021, while McSwain was preparing for a bid for Governor of Pennsylvania and vying for Trump's endorsement, McSwain sent a letter to Trump that said his office "received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities" and that then-Attorney General William Barr instructed McSwain “not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities,” and also directed McSwain “to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation.” There is no evidence of significant fraud in the 2020 election. Barr disputed McSwain's characterization of his actions and said that McSwain was making these claims to get Trump's support. Trump later called McSwain a "coward" for not acting on his false claims of "massive election fraud" in Philadelphia. Trump also said he would not endorse McSwain in the governor's race and later endorsed Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano instead. McSwain officially launched his gubernatorial campaign on September 13, 2021. He ran on a platform labeling himself a "conservative outsider" and pledging to lower regulations and taxes and address public safety issues. He supported eliminating no-excuse mail voting and supported voter ID laws. On abortion McSwain said that, if elected, he would be a pro-life governor, but would support exceptions for rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother. During his campaign, he criticized some stances of an LGBT group sponsored by the Gender Sexuality Alliance (“GSA”) at a Pennsylvania middle school as “left-wing indoctrination.” McSwain came in third in the Republican primary race with 15.77% of the vote behind Mastriano (43.83%) and former Congressman Lou Barletta (20.25%), carrying Chester County in the election and finished second to Mastriano in a majority of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. He subsequently rejoined the law firm Duane Morris LLP, where he serves as the Co-Chair of the White Collar and Government Investigations Divisions. ==References==