On February 15, 2022, the National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program, the Government Procurement Law Program, the National Security Law Association, and the Anti-Corruption & Compliance Association, hosted a special event, featuring Michael K. Atkinson, former Inspector General of the United States’ 18 intelligence agencies.
In 2019, the world first learned about a whistleblower complaint alleging that then-President Donald Trump had abused the Office of the President by soliciting foreign electoral interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The complaint triggered a formal investigation, which ultimately led to the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
The high-profile investigation, led by then-Inspector General for the U.S. Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, placed an international spotlight on the whistleblower protections afforded to employees of the intelligence community, the critical role of inspectors general, and the challenges of navigating a high-profile investigation in the midst of a political firestorm. We discussed these issues and more during this webinar, moderated by Kathleen Kedian, GW Law Professorial Lecturer in Law.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Michael K. Atkinson
Michael K. Atkinson is currently a partner at Crowell & Moring, LLP, in Washington, D.C., where he is a co-leader of the firm’s National Security Practice Group and Whistleblower Working Group. His practice focuses on white collar defense, internal and congressional investigations, and parallel civil and regulatory enforcement proceedings.
Prior to Crowell & Moring, Michael was the Presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed Inspector General of the U.S. Intelligence Community, where he oversaw audit, inspection, and investigation divisions that conducted criminal and civil investigations as well as compliance reviews of programs and activities within the Intelligence Community, including the investigation of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that resulted ultimately in the first impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump.
Prior to his Inspector General role, Michael served in senior roles at the U.S. Department of Justice spanning two decades. He was most recently the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Asset Protection and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the National Security Division. He also served as the Acting Chief and the Deputy Chief in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia.
He began his career at the Justice Department as a Trial Attorney with the Criminal Division, Fraud Section. Before his 18 years of government service, Michael was a litigation partner at a global law firm.
Kathleen Kedian (Moderator)
Ms. Kedian has been a Professorial Lecturer in Law with The George Washington University Law School since 2018. She teaches Counterintelligence Law & Policy and the Disinformation & National Security Reading Group, and has also taught a seminar on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. She served for 13 years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (formerly the Counterespionage Section), holding the roles of Section Chief, Principal Deputy Chief, Deputy Special Counsel, Senior Trial Attorney, and Trial Attorney. During her time at DOJ, Ms. Kedian managed numerous successful, high-profile criminal matters in the areas of espionage, leaks and mishandling of classified information, export control and sanctions, and national security-related cyber crimes. Ms. Kedian received numerous awards for her contributions to significant investigations and cases.
Ms. Kedian’s recent experience also includes four years as Senior Counsel at Raytheon Technologies where she advised on complex legal, geopolitical, and regulatory issues. Earlier in her career, Ms. Kedian served as Counselor and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and as an associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She clerked for the Honorable David M. Ebel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was editor-in-chief of the law review during law school.
PROGRAM ORGANIZERS
