Lisa Monaco (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

Lisa Monaco (Harvard University, University of Chicago Law School) was nominated on March 17 to lead the Justice Department National Security Division. She would succeed David Kris, who resigned as the National Security Division Assistant Attorney General in March.

Her vitals:

• Born in Boston in 1968.
• Has been Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General since January, after serving in that position in an acting capacity since February 2010.
• Was Associate Deputy Attorney General from January 2009 to February 2010.
• Served as Chief of Staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller from September 2007 to January 2009.
• Was Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to Mueller from April 2007 to September 2007.
• Served as a Special Counsel to the FBI Director from January 2006 to April 2007 while on detail from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Was a prosecutor on the Enron Task Force from May 2004 to January 2006 while on detail from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office from January 2001 to April 2007.
• Was a Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno from November 1998 to January 2001.
• Clerked for Judge Jane Roth of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from September 1997 to July 1998.
• Was the treasurer at The Chicago Law Foundation, a scholarship organization, from 1995 to 1997.
• Was a summer associate at Hogan and Hartson LLP from June 1996 to September 1996.
• Interned at the White House Counsel’s Office from July 1996 to August 1996.
• Interned at the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs from July 1995 to September 1995.
• Interned for Judge Wendell Gardner of the D.C. Superior Court from June 1995 to July 1995.
• Served as a research coordinator for the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Chairman Joseph Biden from June 1992 to September 1994.
• Was a senior associate at Health Care Advisory Board, a health care research and consulting firm, from from June 1991 to June 1992.
• Was a research assistant for the Wilson Quarterly, a magazine from the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, from July 1990 to July 1991.
• Received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in 2006, along with DOJ special achievement awards in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
• Has tried 15 jury trial to verdict, serving as sole counsel in 10 cases.
• Has tried about 35 non-jury trials to verdict.

Click here for her Senate Judiciary questionnaire.

On her Senate Judiciary financial disclosure, Monaco reported assets valued at $756,291 mostly from real estate, and $314,258 in liabilities, mostly from a mortgage, for a net worth of $442,032.

Senators spared Justice Department National Security Division nominee Lisa Monaco during her confirmation hearing Wednesday, subjecting her to only a smattering of questions.

Only three of the 18 Senate Judiciary Committee members were present to question Monaco, a 13-year DOJ veteran. The question- and-answer session lasted less than 15 minutes.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the panel and the only member of his party present, provided the toughest line of questioning. He pressed Monaco on key Republican concerns about the government’s ability to effectively fight terrorism.

Grassley asked Monaco about whether trying terrorism suspects in a federal court would be appropriate. Attorney General Eric Holder this month blasted Congress for imposing restrictions on terrorism suspects that blocked the DOJ from trying self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four alleged accomplices in a civilian court. The terrorism suspects now are set to be tried in military commissions backed by Grassley and others.

Monaco said military commissions are a “legitimate forum” and Congress has a role in addressing national security concerns. But she also expressed support for prosecutors.

“As a prosecutor, though, I also think that prosecution decisions are appropriately made by those with the facts and the law in front of them and are appropriately made by prosecutors in the executive branch,” Monaco said.

Grassley also pushed her on the threat of terrorism.

Monaco said the United States is in a war against terrorism and needs to be able to address the threats posed by terrorists. Later, the nominee urged Congress to approve the extension of three Patriot Act provisions that are set to expire May 27 and are used by the DOJ in the fight against terrorism. The provisions include the “lone wolf” authority, which allows investigations of suspected terrorists who aren’t linked to a specific organization or nation, along with authorities that permit “roving wiretaps” and make it easier for federal authorities to acquire tangible evidence — such as library records — as part of a probe.

“The reforms from the Patriot Act and those expiring provisions in particular are absolutely critical tools that the National Security Division uses every day to make sure that national security investigators are able to stay on the same plane and at a level playing field with criminal investigators in the tools that they use,” Monaco said. “I think we need to have those provisions reauthorized for a substantial period of time in order to give stability and clarity to our agents in the field who need those tools quite essentially.”

Monaco has served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General under Deputy Attorney General James Cole since January. She had held the position in an acting capacity since 2010 after she was an Associate Deputy Attorney General for about a year.

She was a top adviser to FBI Director Robert Mueller from 2007 to 2009. She was Deputy Chief of Staff, Counselor and Chief of Staff while at the FBI.

Monaco was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in D.C. from 2001 to 2007. During that time, she spent some time as co-lead trial counsel in cases against former executives of Enron Broadband Services.

She also was counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno from 1998 to 2001, a clerk for Judge Jane Roth of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from 1997 to 1998 and a Senate Judiciary Committee aide under then-Chairman Joseph Biden from 1992 to 1994.

Monaco would succeed David Kris, who resigned as the National Security Division Assistant Attorney General in March to join the private sector. Todd Hinnen is currently heading the division on an acting basis.

She would be the fourth permanent National Security Division Assistant Attorney General if confirmed by the Senate. The National Security Division was established in 2006.

Assistant Attorney General David Kris is joining Seattle-based Intellectual Ventures, a technology investment company headed by former Microsoft Corp. executive Nathan Myhrvold.

Kris, who oversees the National Security Division, will be the firm’s general counsel, according to the company.

Intellectual Ventures, reportedly backed by $5 billion in investment funding, is what critics call a “patent troll” that buys up patents and sues other companies for infringing them. The practice is controversial, particularly regarding patents on software that many critics say should be subject to the less stringent protection of copyright to allow technological innovation.

Kris has served in a corporate law department before. He was counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer at Time Warner Inc. before the Senate confirmed him as head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in March 2009.

Kris will remain in his current post until March 4. A Department of Justice official said Kris picked a two-month lead time to ensure a smooth transition, and emphasized that there is a “deep bench” in the division. An acting Assistant Attorney General hasn’t been selected yet, the official said, adding that ultimately a nominee would be submitted to the Senate for confirmation.

“We’re very sad to see David go,” the official said.

The National Security Division was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to coordinate anti-terrorism and other security-related law enforcement.

The four-year-old Justice Department National Security Division is looking for its first-ever appellate chief, the Blog of Legal Times reported Friday.

The official would oversee appellate work on terrorism and other national security cases. The position is located in the Division’s Office of Law and Policy, which develops national security polices, in addition to handling appellate issues.

The salary for the job starts at $119,554. Applicants must apply for the position by Dec. 20.

DOJ spokesman Dean Boyd told the blog that the official would give the Division “greater in-house capability and leadership” on national security.

“While criminal law issues are relatively settled given decades of rulings and precedent, national security law is a far more dynamic arena and constantly changing in the post-9/11 world,” Boyd told the BLT.

He added that the DOJ expects the chief to “ensure that national security law evolves such that the government has the tools it needs to protect both national security and Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.”

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, who was sworn in Monday to head the Detroit office, has announced the team of prosecutors who will handle the Justice Department’s case against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Turkel, Cathleen Corken and Michael Martin have been assigned to the case, McQuade said in an interview with The Detroit Free Press Tuesday.

Turkel, a 20-year veteran of the office, is chief the office’s National Security Unit. Corken spent  six years in the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section, four of them as deputy chief, before it was folded into the National Security Division. And Martin is a former trial lawyer in the NSD’s Counterespionage Section. He was also an intelligence analyst for the CIA.

“We assembled a team … with highly relevant experience for handling this case,” McQuade said.

David Kris addresses the ACS. (Steve Bagley for Main Justice)

Assistant Attorney General David Kris made the case for the National Security Division’s robust powers on Thursday.

At a conference sponsored by the liberal American Constitution Society, Kris told a few jokes. But he also gave a serious argument: The Department of Justice works better when it has more power.

As the  audience hunched over box lunches, Kris defended the three-year-old division, which was created by a Patriot Act revision in 2006. He praised the post 9/11 tearing down of what had become known as the “wall” between intelligence gathering under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and criminal prosecution.

The FISA wall “made it harder to identify law enforcement methods,” Kris said. “If law enforcement is off the table and you’re looking elsewhere, you’re going to have to resort to solutions that may not be as appealing from a civil liberties standpoint.”

Before 9/11, the FBI and CIA were often working at cross purposes, Kris said.  ”You’d have these two separate, but equal squads not coordinated. It made it difficult for the government to connect the dots.”

Kris said he’s worked hard to break down barriers among intelligence and law enforcement agencies. After he was sworn in as head of the division in April, Kris said his mantra, repeated in staff meetings, was “synergy!”

Kris said the division provides oversight that should assuage civil liberties concerns.  ”It’s not really a very serious rallying cry, but it does make sense: bring in the lawyers,” Kris said.

The Department of Justice has assembled leadership for its National Security Division. At the helm is Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann, a DOJ news release announced today.

Wiegmann, who reports directly to Assistant Attorney General David Kris, will take full-time leadership of the National Security Division after he completes his work as co-chair of the President’s Detention Policy Task-Force, which is looking for ways to shut down Guantanamo Bay and provide trials for detainees.  Backing Wiegmann up will be Donald Vieira, who joins the NSD leadership as Chief of Staff to Wiegman, the press release said. Vieira has served in the NSD previously, as a Counterespionage Section attorney and on staff of the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment of the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments in strategic industries.

From the DOJ:

Todd Hinnen is the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Law and Policy. Mr. Hinnen joins the Division from the U.S. Senate, where he served as Chief Counsel to then-Senator Joe Biden. Previously, Mr. Hinnen was a Director at the National Security Council’s Combating Terrorism Directorate and a Trial Attorney in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Tashina Gauhar is the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Intelligence. Ms. Gauhar has extensive experience working with the U.S. Intelligence Community and has held a variety of national security positions within the Department since 2001, including serving as an Assistant Counsel in the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review and later as the Deputy Chief of Operations in the Office of Intelligence, and recently the Chief of Operations. Prior to joining the Justice Department, Ms. Gauhar was an associate at the law firm of DLA Piper (then Piper Marbury Rudnick and Wolfe, LLP).

George Toscas is currently serving as the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Counterterrorism and Counterespionage. Having entered the Department through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, Mr. Toscas is a career prosecutor with 16 years of prosecutorial experience. During his tenure, he has worked on some of the most sensitive and significant national security matters in the Department. Mr. Toscas previously served in the Counterterrorism Section and its predecessor, the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, at the Justice Department.

This leadership team is assisted by Sheryl L. Walter, who will remain the Division’s Executive Officer. Ms. Walter previously served in the Justice Department as Chief of Staff in the former Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legislative Affairs. Prior to joining the Department she worked at the United States Senate. Ms. Walter also has worked in the private sector as general counsel for a nonprofit research institute and as an associate at the law firm formerly known as Mayer, Brown and Platt. She clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

The work of the Division’s leadership team is also aided by experienced counsels and counselors:

Leonard Bailey is Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Bailey and is spearheading the NSD’s new cyber efforts. Mr. Bailey comes to the NSD from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section. He has been with the Justice Department since 1991 and is widely respected within the Justice Department and the Intelligence Community for his knowledge of cyber issues.

Carrie Cordero is Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. Ms. Cordero recently returned to the NSD from a joint duty assignment at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where she served as a senior associate general counsel in the General Counsel’s office. Previously, Ms. Cordero was an attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Intelligence and its predecessor, the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, having joined DOJ through the Honor Program. She has also been a Special Assistant United States Attorney.

Brian Nelson is Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Nelson recently served in private practice as an associate with the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, D.C. Earlier in his career, Mr. Nelson served as a Law Clerk to Judge Louis H. Pollak on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and to William A. Fletcher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Senate Democrats joined their House counterparts today in questioning the Obama administration’s broad support of three expiring Patriot Act provisions that expand the government’s powers in counter-terrorism investigations.

David Kris (Harvard Law)

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats pushed National Security Division Assistant Attorney General David Kris to comment today on proposed legislation that puts stipulations on the reauthorization of Patriot Act powers that sunset at the end of the year, The Associated Press reported. Panel Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation yesterday that reapproves the provisions, but allows Congress and the public to better monitor the use of the powers.

Kris said the Justice Department does not have an official position on the bill beyond the administration’s support of reauthorizing the expiring provisions, according to The AP. The Assistant Attorney General said in his written testimony that the Justice Department is “ready and willing to work with members … to craft legislation that both provides effective investigative authorities and protects privacy and civil liberties.” National Security Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Todd Hinnen also refused to take a position on possible changes to the provisions, which frustrated Democrats at a House Judiciary Constitution, civil rights and civil liberties subcommittee meeting yesterday.

Here’s a summary of the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used in a FISA application.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge. From 2004 to 2007, the FISA court issued about 220 orders to produce business records.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection. The government has applied for roving wiretaps an average of 22 times a year since 2001.

Leahy said, according to The AP, that the administration’s position keeps “the cards … rather stacked” in favor of the government.

Kris responded, according to the news wire, “We’re willing to look to see if these tools can be sharpened.”

Like the House Republicans, Senate Republicans supported the Justice Department’s position on the provisions. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said there is no indication that “there have been any abuses to date,” according to The AP.

Democrats have long been skeptical of whether the Bush administration abused the Patriot Act powers and national security letters, which the FBI uses to obtain evidence without a court order. The Leahy bill and legislation introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) would put more restrictions on the letters.

DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine said in his written testimony to the committee today that the Office of Inspector General found the FBI initially did not “take seriously enough its responsibility to ensure that these letters were used in accord with the law, Attorney General Guidelines, or FBI policies.” But the FBI has taken steps to correct it use of the letters, he said.

“We … believe that as Congress considers reauthorizing provisions of the Patriot Act, it must ensure through continual and aggressive oversight that the FBI uses these important and intrusive investigative authorities appropriately,” Fine wrote in his testimony.

A Justice Department official Tuesday gave the Obama administration’s case for reauthorizing three expiring Patriot Act provisions that expand the government’s powers in counter-terrorism investigations. But House Judiciary Committee Democrats weren’t entirely convinced.

Todd Hinnen (Main Justice)

Todd Hinnen, National Security Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General, told House Judiciary Committee members that roving wiretaps, the authority to access business records and the ability to track “lone-wolf” terrorists, or those without visible ties to a foreign terrorist organization, are still needed to probe suspected terrorists. The Justice Department said last week it supported the reauthorization of the three provisions that expire at the end of the year.

Here’s a little bit more about the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used in a FISA application.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge. From 2004 to 2007, the FISA court issued about 220 orders to produce business records.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection. The government has applied for roving wiretaps an average of 22 times a year since 2001.

Hinnen said, however, the administration is open to congressional amendments to the Patriot Act provisions, if they don’t hamper the ability of  law enforcement authorities to be effective.

House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he did not support reauthorizing the provisions without making some changes to them. He and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said they were particularly concerned with the “lone wolf” provision, which has never been used.

“Now is the time to consider improving the Patriot Act, not just extending the provisions,” Conyers said at the House Judiciary constitution, civil rights and civil liberties subcommittee hearing.

Republicans said they supported the Justice Department’s position. The subcommittee ranking member, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), even called Hinnen a “breath of fresh air.”

Conyers, however, was not as pleased with Hinnen, who has worked at the Justice Department since January.

“You know, you sound like a lot of people who come over here from DOJ, and yet you’ve been there for only a few months,” Conyers said at the hearing. “Do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing?”

Hinnen reassured Democrats throughout his testimony that the Justice Department will be in close communication with Congress as it moves forward on Patriot Act legislation.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced a bill in March to reauthorize the provisions.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation Tuesday that would also reauthorizes the provisions, but allows Congress and the public to better monitor the use of the powers.

“This hearing is only the beginning of a process working closely together to create legislation that will maintain the operational effectiveness of these important [provisions] and protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people,” Hinnen said in his testimony before the panel.