United States Department of Justice National Security Division

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United States Department of Justice
National Security Division
Seal of the United States Department of Justice National Security Division
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Division overview
FormedMarch 9, 2006; 20 years ago (2006-03-09)
JurisdictionUnited States government agency
HeadquartersRobert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C., United States
Division executive
Parent departmentU.S. Department of Justice
WebsiteOfficial website

The United States Department of Justice National Security Division (NSD) handles national security functions of the department. Created by the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization, the division consolidated all of the department's national security and intelligence functions into a single division. The division is headed by the assistant attorney general for national security.

History

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The National Security Division was created under Section 506 of the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization,[1] which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 9, 2006.[2]

It consolidated the department's national security efforts within one unit, bringing together attorneys from the Counterterrorism Section and Counterespionage Section of the Criminal Division and from the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR), with their specialized expertise in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other intelligence matters. This fulfilled a recommendation of the Iraq Intelligence Commission (Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction).[3]

In 2010, its budget was $88 million.[4]

Office of the Assistant Attorney for National Security

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The head of the National Security Division is an assistant attorney general for national security (AAG-NS) appointed by the president of the United States. Matthew G. Olsen, the most recent AAG-NS, was confirmed to the role with the advice and consent of the Senate.[5] Previously, John Demers, the AAG-NS appointed under President Donald Trump, continued to serve under the Biden administration, but he left the role in June 2021 in the wake of news reports that the Justice officials had seized the phone records of congressional members and staff.[6]

Organization

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The National Security Division is overseen by the assistant attorney general with whom the principal deputy assistant attorney general oversees the Executive Office - The office that administers the entire division. In assistance are four deputy assistant attorneys general, all career civil servants, whom oversee each section.

  • Counterintelligence and Export Control Section - Responsible for supervising investigations and prosecutions relating to espionage, or trafficking of national security information and military hardware.
  • Counterterrorism Section - Responsible for supporting Law Enforcement efforts, policy and strategy in combatting international and domestic terrorism.
  • Foreign Investment and Review Section - Responsible for investigating and mitigating foreign investment in critical U.S. infrastructure and commerce.
  • Office of Law and Policy - Responsible for developing national security policies and strategies within the Justice Department.
  • Office of Intelligence - Responsible for legal and regulatory oversight of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The office contains three sections
    • Operations Section - Responsible for pursuing legal authorization of U.S. Intelligence Operations and representing the government in a FISA Court.
    • Oversight Section - Responsible for oversight of the Intelligence Community and ensuring full legal compliance and protection of individual privacy and civil liberties.
    • Litigation Section - Responsible for handling information gathered from FISA-related activities and preparation of the information for litigation.
  • Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism - Responsible for working with terrorism victims and their families to pursue and prosecute the culprits.
DoJ National Security Division Organizational Breakdown
Assistant Attorney General
for National Security
Executive OfficePrincipal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
and Chief of Staff
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for Counter-Espionage		Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for Counter-Terrorism		Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for Intelligence		Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for Law and Policy
Foreign Investment Review SectionCounter-Terrorism SectionOffice of IntelligenceOffice of Law
and Policy
Counterintelligence
and Export Control Section		Office of Justice for Victims
of Overseas Terrorism		Operations Section
Oversight Section
Litigation Section

Controversies

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In December 2019, Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the DoJ released a report accusing the division of lying to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in some of its applications for wiretaps.[7][8] The presiding judge of the court subsequently ordered the division to "inform the Court in a sworn written submission of what it has done, and plans to do, to ensure that the statement of facts in each FBI application accurately and completely reflects information possessed by the FBI that is material to any issue presented by the application."[9]

List of assistant attorneys general

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Name President
nominating 		Sworn in Left office
Kenneth Leonard Wainstein[10] George W. Bush September 28, 2006[11] March 30, 2008
J. Patrick Rowan October 3, 2008[12] January 20, 2009[13]
David S. Kris Barack Obama March 26, 2009 January 13, 2011[14]
Lisa Monaco July 1, 2011[15] March 8, 2013
John P. Carlin April 1, 2014 October 15, 2016[16]

John Demers ​

Donald Trump February 22, 2018 June 25, 2021[17]
Joe Biden
Mark Lesko (acting) June 25, 2021 November 1, 2021
Matthew G. Olsen November 1, 2021 January 20, 2025
John Eisenberg Donald Trump June 16, 2025[18] Incumbent

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 Archived December 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine." Government Printing Office.
  2. ^ "H.R.3199 Major Congressional Actions Archived November 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine." THOMAS.
  3. ^ "Fact Sheet: USA PATRIOT Act Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 Archived September 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine." United States Department of Justice 2 March 2006.
  4. ^ "DEPARTMENT Of JUSTICE" Archived February 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Government Printing Office. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  5. ^ On the Nomination (Confirmation: Matthew G. Olsen, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Attorney General ). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. Retrieved 30 Oct 2021
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