The White House writing staff consisted of nine employees whose duty it was to study Mr. Obama's voice—mostly by listening to speeches—when producing personal responses or customizing template letters on popular issues like immigration, racial relations, and climate change. Two of these staff members were also asked to write drafts of some of these messages. They are: Doug Band, who served as Mr. Obama's personal aide; Jon Favreau, who worked with him on both the presidential campaign and the presidency; Josh Earnest, who served as his press secretary; Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Obama; Anita Dunn, who managed media affairs at the White House; Jon Favreau, again; Jay Carney, who succeeded Favreau as speechwriter and communications director; Stephanie Cutter, who handled political advertising for the president's 2012 re-election campaign; and John Podesta, who ran Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Obama also hired outside writers, including Peter Osnos, who covered business for The New Yorker; Daniel Schuman, a former Newsweek editor; and Jana Winter, a former Wall Street Journal reporter. The writers' offices are located in the West Wing of the White House. Some authors claim that they are involved in policy making processes but this is not true. They can suggest changes to speeches or messages but cannot write legislation. All writings are released to the public through the president.