Role: Founder and President of the Article III Project (A3P, founded 2019); former Chief Counsel for Nominations to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (2017-2018); central public-facing figure in the conservative federal-judiciary confirmation infrastructure; principal coordinator of judicial-confirmation pressure campaigns; coordinator with Leonard Leo network and Concord Fund; vocal Trump 2.0 advocate publicly speculated as potential Trump 2.0 AG / DOJ senior nominee.

Status: As of May 2026, Davis holds no formal Trump 2.0 administration position but is one of the most operationally consequential figures in the conservative legal-movement infrastructure. A3P continues sustained operations on judicial confirmations, election integrity litigation, and public-pressure campaigns. Davis maintains substantial direct movement / Trump access. Has been publicly mentioned as Attorney General consideration; remained in informal advisory role.

Background

Origins and Education

Michael “Mike” Davis (born 1977) attended University of Iowa (BA), University of Iowa College of Law (JD, with honors).

Federal Clerkship and Early Career

• Clerked for Justice Neil Gorsuch (2017-2018, while Gorsuch was on the Tenth Circuit before SCOTUS confirmation; this clerkship overlapped Davis’s transition)
• Worked at Kirkland & Ellis briefly

Senate Judiciary Committee (2017-2018)

• Chief Counsel for Nominations under Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA)
• Coordinated Trump 1.0 federal-judicial confirmations
• Played central role in Kavanaugh confirmation (2018) including coordination during Christine Blasey Ford allegations

Article III Project (2019-Present)

• Founded A3P (501(c)(4)) and Article III Action (501(c)(3))
• Built into principal aggressive-public-pressure judicial-confirmation infrastructure
• Coordinated with Concord Fund / Judicial Crisis Network on confirmation campaigns
• Coordinated with Leonard Leo network on judicial selections

2020-2024 Period

• Sustained advocacy on Trump 1.0 lower-court confirmations
• Trump 2024 campaign coordination on judicial-pipeline messaging
• Public-pressure operations on Republican senators
• Coordination with Project 2025

Trump 2.0 Period (January 2025-)

• No formal administration role as of May 2026
• Publicly mentioned as AG consideration earlier
• Continues A3P operations
• Direct Trump access maintained

Role in Democratic Erosion / Movement Building

Judicial-Confirmation Aggressive Posture

Davis has been the principal public-facing figure for “no-holds-barred” confirmation-fight tactics:

• Aggressive pressure on Republican senators
• Coordinated digital and traditional-media campaigns
• Direct attacks on Democratic senators and witnesses
• Sustained “go-it-alone” Republican-confirmation strategy

Article III Project Operations

• Confirmation campaign infrastructure
• Judicial-pipeline organizational support
• Election-integrity litigation coordination
• Public-pressure operations on government attorneys

Trump 2.0 Personnel Coordination

• Sustained public advocacy on personnel decisions
• Particularly aggressive on DOJ, FBI, judicial-related personnel
• Coordination with Bondi, Patel post-confirmation

Coordination with Movement Network

• Direct Leonard Leo coordination
• Project 2025 alignment
• Bannon / War Room media presence
• Charlie Kirk / TPUSA coordination

Legal Status and Investigations

• No criminal charges
• No publicly disclosed federal/state investigations

Personal-Public Interest Conflicts

Financial Holdings

• A3P / Article III Action compensation
• Speaking and consulting fees
• Various movement-organization compensation

Foreign Exposure

• No FARA registrations

Specific Decisions Intersecting Personal Interests

• Funder-network coordination: Davis’s continued operational position depends on continued Leo / Concord Fund / Marble Freedom Trust funding; A3P organizational survival depends on continued movement-base engagement on judicial issues

Key Connections

• Leonard Leo — Direct
• Donald Trump — Direct
• Pam Bondi — Direct (current AG)
• Kash Patel — Direct (current FBI Director)
• Russ Vought — Coordination
• Charles Grassley — Senate mentor relationship
• Carrie Severino (Concord Fund) — Direct
• Various Federalist Society leadership

Investigative trail pointers (public records)

Education only — verify independently. Absence of hits is not proof.

Use public-records-research-specialist, corporate-intelligence-investigator, and public-corruption-ombudsman evidence tiers.

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For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

Mike Davis clerked for Neil Gorsuch, worked as Chief Counsel for Nominations under Senator Grassley, and played a central role in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. He then founded the Article III Project, which coordinates with Leonard Leo’s network (the Federalist Society-aligned infrastructure that has spent billions shaping the federal judiciary). A3P runs pressure campaigns on Republican senators during confirmation battles and publicly targets Democratic senators and witnesses. Davis has been publicly mentioned as a potential Attorney General; his organization maintains direct Trump access. He has no criminal charges. His organization’s operational budget depends on continued funding from the Leo/Concord Fund/Marble Freedom Trust network.

Here’s a question worth sitting with: Davis’s career has been dedicated to shaping the federal judiciary — the branch of government that interprets the Constitution and decides what the law means. The judiciary is supposed to be independent: judges who rule based on law and precedent rather than who helped confirm them. A3P’s model is an aggressive pressure campaign during the confirmation process — public attacks on opponents, coordinated media operations — to install judges who share a particular legal-movement ideology. If you believe judicial independence is important to a functioning democracy, what are the long-term implications of a confirmation infrastructure specifically designed to reward loyalty to a political movement?

A second question about the funding structure: Davis’s organization depends on continued funding from Leonard Leo’s network — the same network that funded the judicial appointments process and maintains relationships with the judges those appointments produced. Leo’s network has spent over $1 billion on conservative judicial and political infrastructure. The judges confirmed through this network will make decisions on cases that affect the network’s funders’ interests. The funding flows from billionaire donors → Leo network → A3P → confirmation pressure → confirmed judges → judicial decisions. If a liberal billionaire ran an equivalent operation, would you consider that influence over the judiciary a legitimate exercise of democratic participation — or something that compromises judicial independence?

If the answer is yes, then that standard applies here too. Consistent standards for powerful people aren’t partisan. They’re the foundation of any system where laws matter more than who you know.

A second question: The people documented in these profiles hold, or have held, significant power over systems that affect your life — government programs, elections, law enforcement, the economy. When powerful people act in ways that benefit themselves or their allies rather than the public they serve, the costs fall on everyone. That’s true regardless of party.

You don’t have to agree with every political perspective represented in this knowledge base. You just have to ask whether the documented facts meet your own standard for how public officials should conduct themselves. That’s a question every citizen has the right — and the responsibility — to ask.

Sources

• A3P Form 990 filings (501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3))
• NYT, multiple investigative pieces
• Atlantic, multiple pieces
• Politico, multiple pieces
• A3P public statements and communications

Cross-References

• Personality Profile: Donald J. Trump
• Pam Bondi — Political Accountability Profile
• Kash Patel — Political Accountability Profile
• Leonard Leo — Political Accountability Profile
• Russell Vought – Director, Office of Management and Budget
• Charlie Kirk — Political Accountability Profile
• Democratic Collapse Scenario Planning and Survival Guide
• Conflicts of Interest Matrix — Trump 2.0 Administration & Movement Network