Jeff Connaughton

He began working for Biden in 1987 during his 1988 presidential campaign under Ted Kaufman and went on to work in his Senate office following the campaign.^[4][6]

When Mikva became White House Counsel in 1994, Connaughton joined him.^[4][7] After leaving the Clinton administration, Connaughton moved to K Street to work for Covington & Burling then Arnold & Porter.^[5][6] Following the Clinton administration, he was a founder of Quinn Gillespie & Associates where he became vice chairman and worked for 12 years.^[2][5][1]

He returned to Capitol Hill in 2009 to serve as chief of staff to Kaufman who was appointed to fill the remainder of Biden's term.^[8] At the time, some saw the move as a step toward a potential return to the White House under President Obama, who had a policy prohibiting lobbyists from being hired within two years of their lobbying work.^[9] As chief of staff, he played a key role in the unsuccessful push for the Brown–Kaufman amendment which he has said "radicalized" him.^[6]

In 2012, Connaughton's book, The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins, recounting his role in the failed effort to pass the Brown–Kaufman amendment was published. In it, he argued that big banks held too much power over U.S. politics.^[6] He is one of the four primary subjects featured in George Packer’s 2013 book, The Unwinding.^[10]