WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today swore in Kenneth L. Wainstein as the first Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. The Department also announced the senior members of the National Security Division leadership team including Chief of Staff Charles M. Steele, Deputy Assistant Attorneys General J. Patrick Rowan, Matthew G. Olsen, and Brett Gerry, Counsels George Z. Toscas, John C. Demers and Kathryn Haun, and Deputy Chief of Staff Jessie K. Liu.
Wainstein will lead the National Security Division as it carries out the Department’s top priority of preventing and combating terrorism and protecting the nation’s security. He leaves his position as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he was responsible for the prosecution of all federal and serious local criminal offenses, including several important national security investigations and prosecutions. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he supervised the prosecution of a leading member of a Colombian terrorist organization and the prosecution of individuals who conspired to send triggering devices to Pakistan.
Prior to his service as U.S. Attorney, Wainstein served at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as General Counsel as well as Chief of Staff to the Director. Before that he served as Director of the Executive Office of United States Attorneys. In earlier assignments at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia he served as Interim U.S. Attorney, Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney, Deputy Chief of the Superior Court Division, and Deputy Chief and line prosecutor in the Homicide Section.
Wainstein holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Relations from the University of Virginia and holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley.
In addition to Wainstein, the Attorney General also announced key staff which will manage the new National Security Division.
“We are fortunate to have assembled a team of seasoned law enforcement and national security veterans to oversee operations of the National Security Division. These are people with proven judgment and broad experience and expertise in the mission of protecting our country against criminals, terrorists and spies. The nation will be well served by this exceptional group of public servants,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein.
Charles M. Steele will serve as Chief of Staff to Assistant Attorney General Wainstein. He comes from the FBI where he most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the Director. He previously held the position of Deputy General Counsel, where he provided legal, policy and ethical advice to other FBI and Justice Department officials on law enforcement and national security investigations and prosecutions.
Steele previously held a number of positions in the Justice Department. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. As Deputy Chief, he headed the White Collar Crime Unit which handled fraud and corruption prosecutions. He also prosecuted violent crime and drug cases as an Assistant United State Attorney for the District of Columbia. Steele holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Virginia and received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.
J. Patrick Rowan has been appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Counterterrorism and Counterespionage for the National Security Division. He formerly held the position of Associate Deputy Attorney General and assisted in the management of national security functions for the Justice Department. Before that he held a number of positions in the Justice Department including Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Special Counsel for the Office of General Counsel of the FBI, and Counsel to the Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. He also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Rowan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Dartmouth College and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Matthew G. Olsen will serve as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Operations and Intelligence Oversight. Olsen joins the National Security Division from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where he served as the Chief of the National Security Section. That section is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of international terrorism, espionage, and export enforcement violations. Before that he served as Special Counsel to the Director of the FBI, where he worked primarily on national security policy matters. His earlier assignments in the U.S. Attorney’s Office included line prosecutor assignments and a supervisory position in the Organized Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section. He also served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and received a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
Brett C. Gerry will serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Law and Policy. Gerry formerly held the position of Associate Counsel in the Office of Counsel to the President at the White House. Prior to that, Gerry served as Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Director of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. Gerry served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and to Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and he also worked in the private sector as an associate lawyer at Goodwin Procter LLP. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics from Colgate University, a Master’s degree in Political Science from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
George Z. Toscas will serve as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Toscas has served in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division since 1993 and since 1996 he has been assigned to the Counterterrorism Section. He has extensive experience investigating and prosecuting a number of significant international terrorism and violent crime cases. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Loyola University in Chicago and a Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School.
John C. Demers will serve as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Demers served most recently as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Before that, he served for two years as an Attorney-Advisor in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Before that he served as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an associate attorney at the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Political Science and Italian Studies from the College of the Holy Cross, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
Kathryn Haun will serve as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. She joins the Division from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where she was recently appointed an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Before that she was an associate attorney at the law firm of Sidley Austin. Before that she served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and to Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.
Jessie K. Liu will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. She joins the National Security Division from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the past four years, investigating and prosecuting criminal cases. Before that she was an associate attorney at the law firm of Jenner & Block, and served as a Law Clerk to Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Liu holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
The new division will further improve coordination within the law enforcement community and will bring the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review and the Criminal Division's Counterterrorism and Counterespionage Sections under one authority, fulfilling a key recommendation of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is another step in eliminating the “wall” between the intelligence and law enforcement teams.
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