Indian-American Raj Shah appointed to key White House position

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday appointed Indian-American Raj Shah as Deputy Communications Director and Research Director, a key White House position.

According to a statement by the transition team, Trump filled out more of his senior White House staff, formally naming Katie Walsh Deputy Chief of Staff to the White House, Rick Dearborn as Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Intergovernmental Affairs and Implementation, and Joe Hagin will Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

Additional hires include Marc Short, Director of Legislative Affairs; John DeStefano, Director of Presidential Personnel; Josh Pitcock, Chief of Staff to the Vice President; George Gigicos, Director Of Advance; Jessica Ditto, Deputy Communications Director; Jen Pavlik, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President; and John McEntee, Personal Aide to the president.

Shah, is currently head of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee. In this position, he led a team of experts to carry out research against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate. Shah was behind all the anti-Clinton campaign during the presidential elections.