Raúl Labrador, Idaho attorney general-elect, announced his picks for two top staff positions in the attorney general’s office on Thursday: David Dewhirst of Montana, who will be his chief deputy attorney general; and Theo Wold, a former aide to then-President Donald Trump, who will be solicitor general.

Labrador, who defeated longtime Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the GOP primary and went on to win the general election against Democratic nominee Tom Arkoosh, will take office in January. He said Dewhirst and Wold will start work Jan. 2.

Until Wednesday, Dewhirst served as solicitor general for the state of Montana, a newly created position he was appointed to in January of 2021 by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. He served as the lead civil litigation attorney in Knudsen’s office.

Prior to that, he clerked for controversial 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Lawrence VanDyke, after serving as a senior counsel to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, a position he started in 2018 under the Trump administration. Dewhirst had previously operated a public interest litigation group at the Freedom Foundation, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University and a law degree from The George Washington University Law School.

Wold served as a special assistant to the president for domestic policy, and also served as an acting assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a press release from Labrador’s campaign. He previously was deputy chief counsel to U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Wold holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, a master of letters degree from the University of St. Andrews, and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame.

“David and Theo are nationally respected public servants who are dedicated to ensuring excellence in every aspect of the work of the attorney general’s office,” Labrador said in a news release. “It is an honor to have them join me in the fight to protect Idahoans’ fundamental freedoms. I look forward to working with them and the existing team in the attorney general’s office to serve the people of Idaho.”

Labrador, whose election victory was followed by a spate of departures among key attorneys in the office, including the lead attorney who had been defending Idaho’s abortion laws against multiple lawsuits, said, “It is critical we have experienced, professional leaders filling these roles. My job is to serve and protect the people of Idaho. I’m committed to modernizing and improving the office, and these dedicated and proven public servants will help me accomplish that goal.”