John Donley Adams

{{Infobox person

| name = John Adams

| birth_name = John Donley Adams

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|11|2}}{{cite book |editor-last=Randall |editor-first=Henry Pettus |date=July 1996 |title=Who's who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, Volume 62 |publisher=Randall Publishing Company |page=7 |isbn=9789996465758}}

| birth_place = Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Republican

| spouse = Lisa

| children = 4

| relatives = Adams political family

| education = Virginia Military Institute (BS)
University of Virginia (JD)

| module = {{Infobox military person

| embed = yes

| embed_title = Military Service

| branch = United States Navy

| serviceyears = 1996–2000[https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-adams-3b97934a LinkedIn Profile]}}

}}

John Donley Adams (born November 2, 1973) is an American lawyer from Virginia. He is a partner at McGuire Woods, where he chairs the Government Investigations Department and co-chairs the Appellate Team. Adams ran for Attorney General of Virginia in 2017 and received the Republican nomination, but was defeated in the general election by incumbent Democrat Mark Herring. Adams is a member of the Adams political family.

Early life and education

Adams is the youngest of four brothers. His grandfather, the Rev. Theodore F. Adams (1898–1980),{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Steve|title=ResearchGuides: Archives and Special Collections at Southeastern: Adams, Theodore F. collection|url=http://library.sebts.edu/archives/adams|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=The Library at Southeastern}} led the First Baptist Church of Richmond (1936–1968), and the Baptist World Alliance (1955-1960). He was born into the prominent Adams family and is the third cousin, seven times removed, of US President John Adams. After graduation from Midlothian High School, Adams attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and became executive officer of the VMII Corps of Cadets. Adams graduated from VMI as a distinguished graduate with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1996.{{cite web|title=John Adams (Virginia) - Ballotpedia|url=https://ballotpedia.org/John_Adams_(Virginia)|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=Ballotpedia}}

After commissioning out of VMI as an ensign in the U.S. Navy, Adams served two tours of duty, from 1996 to 2000, including deployment to Iraq during the decade-long Operation Southern Watch. Adams lived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as well as Virginia Beach during his military service. Upon leaving the Navy in 2000, Adams attended the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, where he became managing editor of the law review.{{cite web|last=Woolsey|first=Angela|title=Meet John Adams, the presumptive Republican nominee for Virginia Attorney General|url=http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/meet-john-adams-the-presumptive-republican-nominee-for-virginia-attorney/article_cf88054c-3cc7-11e7-b1af-2f35c4c41ced.html|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=Fairfax Times|date=19 May 2017 }} After graduation, he clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003–2004. After working at Hunton & Williams, LLP, he clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the United States Supreme Court in 2006–2007.

Career

Adams joined the Office of White House Counsel in 2007 as an associate counsel in the administration of President George W. Bush, and lived in Arlington, Virginia.{{cite web|last=Blackwell|first=Ken|title=John Adams: A Government of Laws, and Not Men, in Virginia|url=https://townhall.com/columnists/kenblackwell/2017/09/16/john-adams-a-government-of-laws-and-not-men-in-virginia-n2382421|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=Town Hall|date=16 September 2017 }} He dealt with matters arising from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. State Department. In 2008, Adams returned to Richmond, serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Among his cases, Adams prosecuted John W. Forbes, a former state finance secretary who pleaded guilty and in late 2010 was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for diverting about $4 million of a $5 million grant from the state Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (which had intended to improve literacy in Southside Virginia and southwestern Virginia) to shell companies he controlled and his personal benefit.{{cite web|last=Helderman|first=Rosalind S.|date=November 24, 2010|title=Va. official is sentenced to prison in fraud case|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112307228.html|access-date=September 30, 2017|via=The Washington Post}}

In 2010 Adams joined McGuire Woods as a partner, and has conducted a private legal practice there since, other than his leave of absence during his Attorney General run. He heads the firm's government investigations and white-collar litigation department and co-chairs the appellate team, where according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, most of his cases have concerned matters in states other than Virginia.{{cite web|title=Casetext|url=https://casetext.com/case/jones-lang-lasalle-americas-inc-v-hoffman-family-llc|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=Casetext}} His elder brother Theodore F. "Tray" Adams III works for McGuire Woods Consulting as senior vice president of state government relations. In 2013, Adams led the successful defense of a bank executive in a ten-week jury trial brought by the Department of Justice, while four other defendants were convicted. In 2014, Adams was appointed by the Fourth Circuit as amicus counsel in U.S. v. Williams, to defend the decision of a U.S. District Judge concerning certain provisions of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines with which both the U.S. Attorney's office and defendant disagreed (as ultimately did the appellate panel).{{cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1720638.html|title=FindLaw's United States Fourth Circuit case and opinions.|website=Findlaw|access-date=September 30, 2017}}

Adams filed two successful briefs in cases in the United States Supreme Court opposing parts of the Affordable Care Act as inconsistent with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In 2014, representing 15 members of Congress, Adams filed an amicus brief concerning the law's contraception mandate, which the Supreme Court ultimately struck down in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The following year Adams filed an amicus brief on behalf of an order of nuns in one of the cases consolidated in Zubik v. Burwell, which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately sent down to the relevant appellate courts after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and further briefing.{{cite web|last=Vozzella|first=Laura|date=July 4, 2017|title=Candidate for Va. AG wants to take politics out of the office. Sound familiar?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/candidate-for-va-ag-wants-to-take-politics-out-of-the-office-sound-familiar/2017/07/04/da7d7a64-5aa3-11e7-9b7d-14576dc0f39d_story.html|access-date=September 30, 2017|via=The Washington Post}}

2017 campaign for Attorney General of Virginia

A Republican, Adams ran for Attorney General of Virginia against incumbent Democrat Mark Herring in 2017.{{Cite web|last=Wilson|first=Patrick|date=1 July 2017|title=John Adams, the political opposite of Attorney General Mark Herring, wants his job|url=https://richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/john-adams-the-political-opposite-of-attorney-general-mark-herring-wants-his-job/article_90014365-a07a-540d-8b87-6fd9df5b896c.html|access-date=2020-10-19|website=Richmond Times-Dispatch|language=en}} He secured the Republican nomination after the initial frontrunner, Del. Rob Bell, withdrew from the race and Chuck Smith failed to qualify for the primary ballot.{{cite web|date=April 17, 2017|title=Why Virginia's attorney general race will attract national attention|url=http://wric.com/2017/04/17/why-virginias-attorney-general-race-will-attract-national-attention/|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=WRIC}}

The Virginia State Bar organized a debate between the two attorney general candidates in Virginia Beach on June 19, 2017.{{cite web|title=Candidates for Virginia attorney general spar at debate|url=http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Candidates-for-Virginia-attorney-general-spar-at-debate-429454463.html|access-date=September 30, 2017|website=WHSV|date=19 June 2017 }} Their final debate was hosted by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce on October 20, 2017.{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Patricia|date=October 20, 2017|title=Virginia attorney general candidates go after each other in final debate|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-attorney-general-candidates-to-face-off-in-final-debate/2017/10/19/4a809992-b411-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html|access-date=October 21, 2017|via=The Washington Post}}

Adams portrayed himself as a classic conservative.{{cite web|title=Why the Adams–Herring Attorney General Race in Virginia Matters|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452077/john-adams-mark-herring-attorney-general-race-virginia-classic-conservative-vs|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=National Review|date=2 October 2017}} The majority of Adams' campaign funds were donated through the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).{{cite web|last=STUART|first=BOB|title=Adams seeks to unseat incumbent Virginia Attorney General Herring|url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/state/adams-seeks-to-unseat-incumbent-virginia-attorney-general-herring/article_37a2785c-a62b-11e7-b525-a3e055b7fb5e.html|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=Daily Progress|date=30 September 2017 }}{{cite web|date=September 10, 2016|title=In Opinion: States attorneys general are for sale to the highest bidder|url=http://www.newsweek.com/states-attorney-generals-are-sale-highest-bidder-496673|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=Newsweek}}{{cite news|date=October 28, 2014|title=RAGA as a Money Machine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/28/us/1-RAGA-as-a-Money-Machine.html|access-date=October 7, 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cite web|date=September 21, 2012|title=Was Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life?|url=http://billmoyers.com/2012/09/21/was-susan-b-anthony-pro-life/|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=Bill Moyers}} In March 2017, RAGA abandoned its previous agreement not to target the other party's incumbents in the general election.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-republican-ags-exclusive/exclusive-as-democratic-attorneys-general-target-trump-republican-ags-target-them-idUSKBN16Z1A5|title=Exclusive: As Democratic attorneys general target Trump, Republican AGs target them|date=March 28, 2017|access-date=October 7, 2017|newspaper=Reuters}} The Democratic Attorneys General group donated $1.75 million to Herring, thus becoming the largest donor to his campaign.

Both candidates claimed to want to remove politics from the office, but by Labor Day Weekend, televised attack ads had begun.{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Patricia|date=August 29, 2017|title=Virginia attorney general election campaign heats up with pre-Labor Day attack ad|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-attorney-general-election-campaign-heats-up-with-pre-labor-day-attack-ad/2017/08/29/2d8a84be-8ce4-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html|access-date=October 7, 2017|via=The Washington Post}} As the election neared and absentee voting began in Virginia, such ads increased.{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Patricia|date=October 4, 2017|title=Virginia attorney general candidates release dueling ads|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-attorney-general-candidates-release-dueling-ads/2017/10/04/5ef2f186-a917-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html|access-date=October 7, 2017|via=The Washington Post}}{{cite web|title=Virginia attorney general's race heats up with dueling ads|url=https://pilotonline.com/news/nation-world/virginia/virginia-attorney-general-s-race-heats-up-with-dueling-ads/article_9d87f8c2-b010-5ec2-bb2a-70e07f41604b.html|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=Pilot Online|archive-date=October 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005202329/https://pilotonline.com/news/nation-world/virginia/virginia-attorney-general-s-race-heats-up-with-dueling-ads/article_9d87f8c2-b010-5ec2-bb2a-70e07f41604b.html|url-status=dead}} The Campus Election Engagement Project published a nonpartisan list of their respective campaign positions.{{cite web|date=September 28, 2017|title=John Adams vs. Mark Herring: Nonpartisan Candidate Guide For 2017 Virginia Attorney General Race|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-adams-vs-mark-herring-nonpartisan-candidate_us_59cc5661e4b028e6bb0a6838|access-date=October 7, 2017|website=The Huffington Post}}

Herring defeated Adams on Election Day, by a margin of 168,551 votes (6.6% of the total vote).{{cite news |last1=Lavoie |first1=Denise |title=Herring wins second term as Virginia attorney general |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-herring-wins-second-term-as-virginia-attorney-general-20171107-story.html |access-date=July 13, 2019 |work=Daily Press |agency=AP |date=November 7, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/virginia-general-elections|title=Election Results: Virginia|work=The New York Times|date=20 December 2017 |access-date=2019-06-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}