When Iowa state Sen. Matt McCoy learned Donald Trump had appointed Matthew Whitaker to be acting attorney general of the United States, he was aghast -- he believes Whitaker was behind a politically motivated prosecution that was personally "devastating" to him.
It started in 2007, when McCoy was a rising Democrat in state politics, and the state's first openly gay lawmaker. Whitaker was the US attorney for Iowa's Southern District at the time.
"I believe it was a political prosecution, there's no doubt in mind, I'm 100% certain that it was," McCoy said, adding he believes he was targeted not just because he's a Democrat, but also because he's gay. "As US attorney (Whitaker) spoke at Christian Coalition events and would often refer to bringing God into his decision-making process and being guided by God's hand," McCoy said, "and so I believe that he was very much resentful of my lifestyle and I believe that played a factor in it."
A Justice Department official sent a statement to CNN defending the case. "As a U.S. Attorney, then-US Attorney Whitaker had a responsibility to uphold the rule of law and pursue credible allegations of illegal activity. The Department of Justice signed off on bringing the case, the FBI conducted an independent investigation, and career prosecutors handled the case throughout its duration. The jury's verdict does not negate the obligation of law enforcement agencies to open cases when they determine laws may have been broken."
McCoy said the two-year legal battle exhausted his finances and left a lasting impact on his life. "I was putting my whole family in an emotional state as a result of that. I had elderly parents, I had a young son ... It took an emotional toll on the people that I loved and it was completely unnecessary."
Whitaker left his position as US attorney in 2009 and ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 2014. He also unsuccessfully vied for a seat on the Iowa Supreme Court, then went on to create the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a Washington nonprofit funded almost entirely by dark money. In 2017, he became former Attorney General Jeff Sessions' chief of staff until this week, when he stepped into his former boss' job.