Speaker JohnsonOnce The Dean of a Christian law School } Close Before it Open
House Speaker Mike Johnson was once the dean of a Christian law school. It never opened its doors
Before House Speaker Mike Johnson was elected to public office, he was the dean of a small Baptist law school that didn’t exist. The establishment of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law was supposed to be a capstone achievement for Louisiana College. Instead, it collapsed a decade ago without enrolling students amid infighting by officials, accusations of financial impropriety, and difficulty obtaining accreditation. .
Why this matters:
The board of trustees who brought Johnson onboard included Tony Perkins, a longtime mentor who is now the president of the Family Research Council in Washington, a powerhouse Christian lobbying organization that has been classified as an anti-gay “hate group.”
Five years after Johnson’s resignation, Judge Paul Pressler, the school’s namesake, was sued in a civil case that has since grown to include allegations of abuse by multiple men who say he sexually assaulted them, some when they were children.
There is no indication that Johnson engaged in wrongdoing while employed by the private college. But as an unknown player in Washington, the episode offers insight into how Johnson navigated leadership challenges that echo the chaos, feuding, and hard-right politics that have come to define the Republican House majority he now leads.
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