FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III Announces the Appointment of Kenneth L. Wainstein to Serve as the FBI’s General Counsel

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III today announced the appointment of Kenneth L. Wainstein to serve as the FBI’s General Counsel. Wainstein, currently Director of the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys, will replace Larry R. Parkinson, who is leaving the Bureau after almost seven years of service.

Mueller said about Parkinson: “Larry Parkinson has contributed years of extraordinary service to the Office of General Counsel and to the entire FBI. Since my arrival in September of last year, I have found his guidance to be invaluable. He will certainly be missed.” Mueller said Parkinson’s shoes will be tough to fill, but that Wainstein brings, “the experience and legal expertise needed to oversee the OGC’s broad range of responsibilities — particularly in this time of change for the Bureau.”

Wainstein called the appointment “the opportunity of a lifetime,” and said he looks forward to new challenges, and “to working with the FBI’s exceptional legal team.”

As General Counsel, Wainstein will head a legal office tasked with providing comprehensive legal advice to the Director, other FBI officials and divisions, and field offices on a wide array of investigative and administrative operations ranging from national security law, to administrative, procurement, and employment matters, to laws relating to encryption and telecommunications systems. In addition to providing legal advice as requested, OGC reviews the legal sufficiency of sensitive Title III affidavits, ensures that electronic surveillance techniques are used in compliance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and responds to Congressional requests for FBI documents. OGC supports federal criminal prosecutions by assisting in criminal discovery, particularly in DNA matters. It coordinates the defense of the FBI and its employees in civil actions which arise out of the FBI’s investigative mission and personnel matters. And it also provides legal training for FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel, the National Academy, and other law enforcement groups.

Prior to his current service as Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Wainstein held various positions in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, including Interim U.S. Attorney, Principal Assistant US Attorney, Deputy Chief of the Superior Court Division, and Deputy Chief in the Homicide Section. Wainstein also served as Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and as a Law Clerk for Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and International Relations from the University of Virginia, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.

Wainstein is expected to assume his new responsibilities in late July.