Harmeet Dhillon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Harmeet Dhillon
Dhillon in 2021
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Nominee
Assuming office TBD
President	Donald Trump
Succeeding	Kristen Clarke
Republican National Committeewoman from California
Incumbent
Assumed office July 19, 2016
Preceded by	Linda Ackerman
Personal details
Born	Harmeet Kaur Dhillon 1969 (age 55–56) Chandigarh, India
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouses	D. Singh ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1991)​ Kanwarjit Singh ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 2004)​ Sarvjit Randhawa ​ ​ (m. 2011; died 2024)​
Education	Dartmouth College (BA) University of Virginia (JD)

Harmeet Kaur Dhillon (born 1969) is an American lawyer and Republican Party official. She is the former vice chair of the California Republican Party, and a National Committeewoman of the Republican National Committee for California. She is the founder of a law practice called Dhillon Law Group Inc. In 2018, she helped launch the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Center for American Liberty, which does legal work related to civil liberties. She is a regular guest on Fox News.

During the coronavirus pandemic, she filed numerous unsuccessful lawsuits to halt the implementation of stay-at-home-orders and other restrictions. She criticized face masks requirements, called for the re-opening of the economy, and opposed mail in voting.

In the January 2023 election, Dhillon unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee. In December, 2024, Donald Trump nominated Dhillon to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Early life

Dhillon was born in Chandigarh, India to a Punjabi Sikh family in 1969. Her family moved to the United States when she was a child so that her father, Tejpal Singh Dhillon could pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon. Dhillon attended elementary school in The Bronx, New York before her family eventually settling in Smithfield, North Carolina.

Education

After finishing high school at age 16, she attended Dartmouth College. She became a writer and eventually editor-in-chief at The Dartmouth Review.

During her tenure at The Review, a satirical column criticizing the school's President and the policies of his administration generated controversy. In the column, Dartmouth College President James O. Freedman, who was Jewish, was likened to Adolf Hitler due to the alleged discriminatory policies of his administration against conservatives. These policies were referred to by the column as a "holocaust" and the "Final Solution to the Conservative Problem". The column also characterized conservatives at Dartmouth as being "deported in cattle cars in the night".

Dhillon claimed that the column sought to draw parallels between so-called "liberal fascism" and fascism. She stated that there was no intention to minimize the horrors of the Holocaust, rather the column sought to demonstrate the mistreatment that conservative students faced under President Freedman's administration. After graduating from Dartmouth, she attended law school, graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law where she was on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. After law school, she clerked for Judge Paul Victor Niemeyer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Legal career

Legal representations

Trump 2020 campaign legal adviser

She was a legal adviser on the Trump 2020 campaign. While the Trump campaign was making claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election (as the ballots were being counted), Dhillon said the campaign was hoping that the Supreme Court, including Trump-appointed justices such as Amy Coney Barrett, would help Trump win the presidency.

Carlson lawsuit

in 2023, Dhillon was hired by Tucker Carlson to represent him in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg.

Political career

2000–2010

2008 California Assembly

In 2008, Dhillon ran for a seat in the California Assembly. She lost the race, garnering 17% of the vote in the traditionally Democratic district. She ran for the California Senate in 2012, but was again unsuccessful. She served as the chair of the San Francisco Republican Party.

Dhillon became a board member of the northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union after the September 11 attacks, in connection with her work on discrimination against Sikhs and other South Asians, and stayed on the board for three years. She has been heavily criticized by Republican activists for her ties to the ACLU, as well as her past contributions to the political campaigning of Kamala Harris.

2010–2020

California Republican Party

Dhillon with President Donald Trump in 2019

Dhillon was chosen to be a member of the California Republican Party's Board in 2013; she became a national committeewoman for the Republican National Committee in 2016. She also gave the opening prayer at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

In early 2017, Dhillon interviewed to be the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice. She was not nominated for the position.

Dhillon led the successful effort to remove Chad Mayes as the California State Assembly Republican caucus leader in August 2017.

On July 11, 2019, Dhillon gave a speech at the President Trump's "Social Media Summit". Dhillon is a co-chair of Women for Trump. She has described Laura Ingraham as a "long-time mentor."

2020–present

In December 2022, Dhillon announced her candidacy to replace Ronna McDaniel as chairperson of the Republican National Committee. In January 2023, Dhillon reportedly faced a whisper campaign from supporters of McDaniel and of Mike Lindell focusing on her Sikh faith. On January 11, 2023, McDaniel disavowed the attacks, citing her own minority Mormon faith. On January 27, 2023, Dhillon would lose to McDaniel in a 111–51 vote.

Dhillon performed a Sikh prayer, the Ardās, at the 2024 Republican National Convention. It was met with backlash on social media by far-right political figures such as Lauren Witzke, Nick Fuentes, and Stew Peters.

In October 2024, Dhillon took part in an interview with Tucker Carlson on The Tucker Carlson Show to discuss criticisms of Kamala Harris in both her political and legal career.

In October 2024, Dhillon was chosen by the Arizona Republican Party to run its election integrity operation.

On December 9, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dhillon to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice If confirmed, Dhillon will be the first Republican woman and first Republican of Indian descent to lead the division.

Personal life

Dhillon's first marriage to D. Singh in 1989 ended in divorce in 1991. Her second marriage to Kanwarjit Singh in 1994 ended in divorce in 2004. Her third marriage was to Sarvjit Singh Randhawa, lasting 16 years. Randhawa died in 2024 after battling Parkinson's disease and cancer.