Kellyanne Conway's husband won't take job at Justice Department

WASHINGTON — George Conway — a partner at a prominent law firm and the husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway — has withdrawn his name from consideration for a high-level post leading the Justice Department's civil division.

In a statement, George Conway said that, because of the timing, he could not take the job, though he was happy to have been considered.

"I am profoundly grateful to the President and to the Attorney General for selecting me to serve in the Department of Justice. I have reluctantly concluded, however, that, for me and my family, this is not the right time for me to leave the private sector and take on a new role in the federal government," Conway said. "Kellyanne and I continue to support the President and his Administration, and I look forward to doing so in whatever way I can from outside the government."

President Donald Trump was said in March to have wanted Conway for the post, which would have had him overseeing all of the federal government's lawsuits on a variety of issues.

Civil-division lawyers are the ones who defend the administration from lawsuits, and they have done so recently with the president's entry ban and executive order on "sanctuary" cities.

A White House spokeswoman referred questions to the Justice Department, which said it could not comment on personnel matters.

Conway works as a lawyer at the New York firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in securities litigation and other corporate issues.

As a young lawyer, he was involved in a furtive effort to oppose President Bill Clinton by offering legal aid to his accusers and spreading accusations against him.

His wife, Kellyanne Conway, is one of Trump's most high-profile aides.

She appears on TV frequently to offer the administration's position on the most controversial issues of the day.