Donald Trump hires Citizens United head as deputy campaign manager

David N. Bossie, a conservative operative and, until this week, president of Citizens United, has been named Donald Trump's deputy campaign manager.

Trump announced the hire to The Washington Post, calling Bossie a "friend of mine for many years. Solid. Smart. Loves politics, knows how to win." Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Bossie will be assisting her with day-to-day operations and strategic planning, and he will also work on putting together attacks against Hillary Clinton. For the duration of the campaign, Bossie is taking a leave of absence from Citizens United, the conservative advocacy group best known for the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a ruling that ended many restrictions on political spending for corporations and unions. He has also left an anti-Clinton super PAC he's been running since June.

In the 1990s, Bossie was a Republican congressional staffer who spent his time focusing on the Clintons' finances and dealings, later stepping down amid criticism of his practices, the Post reports. He started giving Trump campaign advice before he entered the race, and introduced him to his first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and current campaign chief executive, Stephen Bannon.

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