Martin Edward Whelan III is an American lawyer, legal activist and political commentator. Whelan's legal career included clerking for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration. Since 2004, he has served as the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy". In 2018, Whelan was as an advisor to Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation effort for the U.S. Supreme Court. Whelan came under intense criticism when, in response to an allegation of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, he published on Twitter a speculative theory that Kavanaugh may have been a victim of mistaken identity, and proceeded to publicly name a private citizen, whom Whelan implied was a doppelganger of Kavanaugh and the real sexual assaulter. After facing ridicule for his reasoning and criticism for what was regarded as a baseless smear of a private citizen, he apologized a day later for an "appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment", and the EPPC announced that Whelan would be taking a leave of absence.
From 1985 until 1986, Whelan worked as a law clerk to United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace. From 1991 until 1992, Whelan worked as a law clerk to United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. In the 1990s, Whelan served as general counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary while it was controlled by Republicans. He also has worked as a lawyer in private practice and was Senior Vice President and Counselor to the General Counsel for Verizon Corporation. From 2001 until 2004, Whelan served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, advising the White House Counsel's Office, the Attorney General and other senior DOJ officials, and Departments and agencies throughout the executive branch on difficult and sensitive legal questions. In 2004, Whelan became president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit think tank that is based in Washington, D.C. He directs the EPPC's program on the United States Constitution, federal courts and culture. In 2016, Whelan gave his opinion in an interview reported by The New York Times. Whelan asked conservatives to adopt an uncompromising stance on appointments to the upper ranks of the U.S. judiciary, including appeals courts.
Kavanaugh Nomination
In 2018, Whelan helped advise his close friend Brett Kavanaugh, a federal judge, in the latter's nomination effort to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. On September 16, Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape her in the early 1980s when they were teenagers. Whelan drew considerable criticism when he attempted to defend conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh, then involved in contentious hearings following his nomination to the Supreme Court. Shortly before a scheduled Judiciary Committee vote on the nomination, an allegation emerged that Kavanaugh had committed a sexual assault as a teen. With assistance and information supplied from Creative Response Concepts Public Relations, a conservative public relations firm, Whelan tweeted that the alleged victim's allegation against Kavanaugh may have been a case of mistaken identity. Whelan went so far as to publicly name a private citizen, whom he indicated was a doppelganger of Kavanaugh and the real sexual assaulter.. After facing ridicule for his reasoning and criticism for what was regarded as a baseless smear of a private citizen, he apologized a day later for an "appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment".
Blogging
In May 2005, Whelan began blogging at the National Review's website. In June 2009, Whelan sparked a controversy in the blogosphere when he publicly divulged the name of a pseudonymous legal blogger in a post entitled "Exposing an Irresponsible Anonymous blogger". Whelan apologized to the blogger for the disclosure, and the blogger accepted Whelan's apology.
