Nicolas Muzin

Muzin was raised in a Jewish family[4] in Toronto, Ontario, and is the son of Helen and Gary Muzin. His father is the president of a construction distribution and supply company.[5]

Muzin attended Ner Israel Yeshiva High School in Toronto. After spending some post-high school time at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, he attended Yeshiva University in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. While there, he served as editor in chief of the school newspaper, The Commentator, graduating in 1997. Muzin then completed Albert Einstein College of Medicine on a full four-year scholarship in 2001. Following a year as an internal medicine intern, Muzin proceeded to Yale Law School.[6] At Yale, Nicolas was a member of the Jewish leadership society Shabtai.

In 2000, Muzin supported the Al Gore / Joe Lieberman ticket.[7] He joined George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign as counsel for the Republican National Committee and served as a medical adviser for the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain.[7] From 2005 to 2008, Muzin was of council at Williams & Connolly.

Dr. Muzin was chief of staff and policy adviser for then Charleston City Councilmember Tim Scott during his successful 2010 campaign for US Congress following the retirement of Rep. Henry Brown, and until December of that year, served as Scott's chief of staff.[8] Muzin remained involved with Scott during his transition from the House to his current position in the Senate.[7]

Dr. Muzin successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on Congressman Ted Poe, saving his life after the congressman started choking on a piece of popcorn.[9]

Recruited by Chad Sweet, national campaign chairman for Sen. Ted Cruz,[10] Muzin served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff for strategy for Cruz's Republican candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election.[2] Cruz stated that he used Muzin as a sounding board on issues related to Judaism and to gain a deeper understanding of the religion and the broader community.[11]

Dr. Muzin was also the national political director for the Washington D.C. political action committee Tomorrow is Meaningful (TIM-PAC). Recently established by Tim Scott,[12] TIM-PAC focuses on encouraging entrepreneurship, private market-driven health care, tax reform, strengthening ties with longtime U.S. ally Israel, and an additional aim of sourcing viable candidates to bolster the Tea Party movement’s political base.[13] On July 2016, Muzin was considered by Yeshiva University, his alma mater, for the position of university president.[14][15]

In February 2018, it was reported by Haaretz and The Times of Israel that the Qatari Government had hired Nick Muzin to improve the Emirates's relations with the Trump Administration and the Jewish American community. Muzin's work reportedly included arranging meetings between Qatari officials and leaders of Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups.[16][17] In September 2017, "Muzin registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for Qatar."[18]

Muzin and Allaham introduced Qataris to prominent American Jewish figures and offered them trips to Doha to meet with the Emir of Qatar and other prominent government officials. American Jewish leaders who accepted trips organized by Allaham and Muzin included Alan Dershowitz, head of the Zionist Organization of America Mort Klein, and Malcolm Hoenlein.[18]On June 6, 2018, Muzin declared on Twitter that he had stopped working for Qatar.[19][20]

Nicolas Muzin is the Founder and Chairman of Stonington Global,[21] a specialized law and consulting firm based in Washington, where he focuses on strategic international advisory and private equity work and practices as an attorney. The firm provides programming services to Voice of America Persian, the American government-backed media outlet that produces journalistic content for the Iranian community.[22] Stonington Global also works on pro bono issues related to criminal justice reform, religious freedom and human rights.

In December 2020, Nick Muzin, Alan Dershowitz, and other criminal justice reform advocates helped seek clemency for Eliyahu (“Eli”) Weinstein, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for fraudulent real estate transactions, the longest sentence in the history of New Jersey for such an offense. In January, President Trump commuted Weinstein's sentence to time served, and wrote “Mr. Weinstein is the father of seven children and a loving husband…Upon his release, he will have strong support from his community and members of his faith.”[23]

Muzin is an Orthodox Jew.[24] In 2006, he married Andrea Michelle Zucker, the daughter of Anita Zucker and Jerry Zucker.[5]