Ian Prior

Ian Prior is a co-founder of the Daily Malarkey, Executive Director of FightforSchools.com, and CEO of Headwaters Media.

A communications and litigation expert, he has spent the past decade utilizing his experience at the crossroads of politics and media to successfully navigate some of the most challenging media environments in politics, government, and corporate America.

Most recently, Ian served as Vice President at Mercury Public Affairs, where he worked for several Fortune 500 companies, multi-million-dollar trade groups, and high level political campaigns.
Previously he was Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice. Appointed to that role in March 2017, he served through July 2018. At DOJ, he helped provide strategic public affairs guidance to the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General. Ian also served as the primary spokesman and media strategist for the Department’s National Security Division and Antitrust Division. In addition, he managed the Department’s public affairs strategies to combat the deadly opioid crisis and enhance the nation’s cybersecurity.

Before serving at the Department of Justice, Ian served as the Communications Director for American Crossroads and Senate Leadership Fund in the 2016 cycle. In the 2014 cycle, he was the Northeast Regional Press Secretary at the National Republican Congressional Committee and waspromoted to National Press Secretary and Deputy Communications Director following the 2014 election. He also managed the congressional campaign for former Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Brendan Doherty in 2012.

Ian hails from Rhode Island and earned a B.A. from Boston University and a J.D. and L.L.M in Banking and Financial Law from Boston University School of Law. Following law school and before transitioning to public relations and communications, he clerked for Chief Justice Frank Williams of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and worked as a lawyer at Edwards and Angell, Brown Rudnick, and the City of Boston Corporation Counsel’s office.
Ian is also a frequent guest commentator of Fox News where he discusses issues related to the Department of Justice, FBI, the Trump Administration, and political campaigns.