Difference between revisions of "James A. Baker (DOJ)"

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Revision as of 07:11, April 17, 2018

James A. Baker
200px
General Counsel for the FBI
From: January 2014 - December 2017
Predecessor
Successor Dana Boente
Information

James A. Baker is an American government official at the Department of Justice who served as General Counsel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[1] In December, 2017 he was reassigned to a different position within the FBI.[2]

Baker joined the Justice Criminal Department in 1990 and went on to work as a United States Attorney. In 1996 he joined Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR). This government agency handles all DOJ requests for surveillance authorizations under the terms of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, advises the Attorney General and all major intelligence-gathering agencies on legal issues relating to national security and surveillance, and "coordinates" the views of the intelligence community regarding intelligence legislation.[3] Baker has often testified before Congress on behalf of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administration intelligence policies, including defending the Patriot Act before the House Judiciary Committee.[4][5] Regarding Baker's 2007 appearance on the PBS Frontline episode "Spying on the Home Front", the show's producer, in a Washington Post online chat, referred to Baker as "Mr. FISA himself".[6]

Baker's government service was interrupted twice by stints in the private sector. Baker was assistant general counsel for national security at Verizon Business from 2008 to 2009.[1] He was associate general counsel with Bridgewater Associates, LP from 2012 to 2014.[7]

In 2004, according to The Washington Post, Baker was responsible for the discovery that "the government's failure to share information" regarding the NSA electronic surveillance program had "rendered useless a federal screening system" insisted upon by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to prevent "tainted information"—in U.S. case law, fruit of the poisonous tree—from being used before the court. Baker was reported to have informed presiding federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the FISC, whose complaints to the Justice Department led to the temporary suspension of the NSA program.[8]

In 2007, according to The Washington Post, Baker revealed that he had informed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "about mistakes the FBI has made or problems or violations or compliance incidents" prior to Gonzales' April 2005 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that ""There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" after 2001.[9]

In 2017, Sinclair-owned Circa News reported that Baker was under a Department of Justice criminal investigation for allegedly leaking classified national security information concerning the Trump administration to the media.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 FBI — James A. Baker Appointed as FBI’s General Counsel. FBI.
  2. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named WaPoDec17
  3. US DOJ website on OIPR (December 12, 2003). Archived from the original on January 15, 2006.
  4. STATEMENT JAMES A. BAKER COUNSEL FOR INTELLIGENCE POLICY OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE POLICY AND REVIEW UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Department of Justice (April 26, 2005). Archived from the original on May 10, 2005.
  5. STATEMENT JAMES A. BAKER COUNSEL FOR INTELLIGENCE POLICY OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE POLICY AND REVIEW UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Department of Justice (April 28, 2005). Archived from the original on May 10, 2005.
  6. "PBS Frontline: 'Spying on the Home Front'", The Washington Post, May 16, 2007. “Mr. FISA himself, Mr. James Baker, the DOJ point man on FISA.” 
  7. James A. Baker. Harvard University.
  8. Leonnig, Carol D.. "Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data", The Washington Post, February 9, 2006. 
  9. Solomon, John. "Gonzales Knew About Violations, Officials Say", The Washington Post, July 11, 2007. 
  10. "EXCLUSIVE: A top FBI lawyer is allegedly under an investigation for leaking classified information to the media", Circa News, July 27, 2017. (en)