Trump Campaign Advisor Heading up Election Legal Battles Reportedly Has COVID-19

Sources close to the Trump campaign told CNN that its lawyer, David Bossie has tested positive for COVID-19. Bossie was reportedly meant to lead the campaign’s legal challenges against the 2020 presidential election results, and has been traveling extensively for his work. So far, Bossie has not responded to requests for comment on his condition from other news outlets.

Bossie was appointed to oversee the Trump campaign’s lawsuits and legal challenges against various state and city governments around the U.S. over the election results, though now he may be too sick to do so. Days after getting the job, Bossie tested positive for the coronavirus, two sources have now confirmed. This is troubling for campaign staffers and election officials who may have come in contact with Bossie over the last few weeks, when he may have been infectious without realizing it. He has reportedly been seen in the campaign’s Virginia headquarters several times in the last week alone.

Like the Trump administration itself, the Trump campaign has come under fire for eschewing coronavirus safety precautions like face masks, social distancing and plexiglass barriers indoors, so the presence of Bossie inside the office is troubling. Bossie is just one of several officials to contract the virus recently, potentially signaling a new outbreak within Trump’s inner circle. The other notable cases include Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Bossie is the president of the conservative nonprofit group Citizens United, and previously worked as the deputy campaign manager of the 2016 Trump campaign. He is 55 years old, but it is not clear yet whether he is symptomatic. Typically, adults in the age range of 50 to 64 face four times greater risk of hospitalization and 30 times greater risk of death from COVID-19 than younger patients, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bossie traveled with Trump on Air Force One as recently as Nov. 2, when the campaign flew to Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to a tweet by the campaign’s Corey Lewandowski. Trump’s daughter, Tiffany Trump and former RNC chair Reince Preibus were also on the plane. No one on the plane was wearing a mask in the photo Lewandowski shared.

The Trump campaign has the legal right to pursue its legal actions against election officials all over the country, but so far there is no real evidence of voter fraud or election tampering. Additionally, the Trump campaign would need to win an unlikely number of those cases to make up the 56 votes needed to secure the presidency.