Marci Whitaker is the high school sweetheart and wife of the new Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker. The couple has three children together. On November 7, the day after the midterm elections, President Donald Trump announced that he had asked for Jeff Sessions’ resignation as Attorney General. Trump said in a tweet that Sessions’ replacement would be the former Alabama senator’s chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker.
Whitaker met his wife while they were both students at Ankeny High School in Ankeny, Iowa. During his time in high school, Whitaker was a football star. Later, Whitaker would be honored by the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame, according to a Des Moines Register feature. The Register article adds that Whitaker went on to play for the University of Iowa. Whitaker is a native Ankeny. In 2013, it was reported that Whitaker owned a day care business in Ankeny and a trailer business in Adel, Iowa.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Marci Said in January 2019 that Robert Mueller’s Investigation Was Close to Ending
In January 2019, Marci Whitaker emailed Slate magazine to tell them about the impact the government shutdown was having on their family. Marci said that her family was dependent on her paycheck during the shutdown. Marci also said that by “all accounts, the investigation is wrapping up,” when talking about Slate’s coverage of her husband’s previous views of the Mueller investigation. The acting attorney general has repeatedly been critical of the Mueller investigation.
2. Whitaker Said in 2014 That His Wife Reminds Him of His Mother
Whitaker has not tweeted about his wife since 2014. While Whitaker was running in the Republican Senate primary for the seat that was eventually won by Joni Ernst, Marci featured regularly on her husband’s Twitter feed. In May 2014, Whitaker tweeted, “I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my mom. I’m blessed everyday to see my wife Marci have the same impact on our three children.”
Whitaker regularly posted tweets when Marci was out on the campaign trail with him. In 2012, Whitaker gave an insight into their home life, tweeting, “My wife and I share responsibility for the laundry.”
3. Marci Holds a Professional Engineer License in Iowa
Marci Whitaker has a profile at the website fo MC2H20, an Iowa based water treatment company. Marci’s profile says that she has a B.S. civil engineering degree from the University of Iowa and a Professional Engineer license in Iowa. The page says that she has worked for various engineering firms in Minnesota and Iowa during her professional career. One of those firms was Shive-Hattery. The bio adds that Marci is a native of Ely, Iowa, and at the time the bio was written, she lived with her family in Des Moines.
The Omaha World-Herald reported in May 2014 that the Whitaker family had moved to Minnesota during the 1990s and returned to Iowa in 2001.
4. The Couple’s Eldest Daughter Met Jeff Sessions, 3 Weeks Before He Was Asked to Resign
On October 15, the couple’s eldest child, Alison, posted a photo showing her with her father and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Alison Whitaker’s Facebook page includes professional glamor modeling photographs. On her Instagram page, Alison wrote in the caption of the Sessions’ photo, “DC was a dream, and my dad is a pretty cool guy.” When her father’s promotion was announced, Alison Whitaker retweeted President Donald Trump’s message announcing Sessions’ firing. Afterward, Alison retweeted on of her own tweets from September 3 that read, “People see what they want to see, perception rules the world.”
According to her Instagram page, Alison Whitaker is represented by the Peak Agency and is a student at the University of Iowa.
5. The Whitaker Family ‘Regularly’ Attend Church Together
According to On the Issues, Whitaker has been described as a “Christian who regularly attends church with his family.” The page also lists Whitaker’s opinions to includes life beginning at conception and being against gay marriage. In an interview with Hawkeye Nation, Whitaker mentioned his family among his proudest achievements saying, “I’m proud to have played on Iowa Hawkeye teams that helped define the program and helped set the foundation for what Iowa football is today. And I’m very proud of my three kids. As far as what the future holds for me, that’s an ongoing process. I’ve been working on assessing my strengths and seeing what God’s plan for my life is. I think I have a lot to offer and I think my best days are still ahead of me.”
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