House of Representation Matters

Special guest Jenn Laskin, Esq. returns to discuss new details about the status of Student Loan forgiveness in Duly Noted.

Stephen McLendon joins us for Lawyer-ish. He is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He earned his B.A. in Sociology and in Crime, Law & Justice from the Pennsylvania State University and his Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law. He has been a member of the Navy Reserves since 2009. Stephen began his career as a prosecutor in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, before prosecuting in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He then transitioned to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) drafting appellate decisions for cases involving Veteran’s benefits before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Currently, he works at VA’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) litigating Veteran’s claims for benefits before the Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims.

Kristal Knight is the Apex Highlight. She is a political strategist and social impact advisor, working with national political and advocacy organizations to raise and manage money to elevate their political platforms. She is a guest commentator on Fox News and MSNBC and the host of a podcast on Newsweek. During the 2020 cycle, she served as the political director for Priorities USA, the largest Democratic presidential super PAC and Biden’s preferred PAC. She is the founding executive director of Emerge Tennessee, a Democratic candidate-training program for women seeking to run for office, at every ballot level. Knight has experience as a statewide political director for a U.S. Senate race in Tennessee as well as working on the Hillary for America 2016 campaign. She got her start in politics working for former Mayor Adrian Fenty 2010 reelection campaign and in his office of policy and legislative affairs. Knight is a 2012 alum of the Obama for America campaign. She completed her master’s degree in International Public Policy at University College London and graduated with a degree in Journalism from Howard University.