Abbe David Lowell (born April 28, 1952) is an American defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants. Lowell has represented numerous high-profile political figures, including

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, and Jim Gibbons, among others.

Early life and education

Lowell was born in 1952. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1974, and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1977.

Career

Lowell worked in the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, including a stint as an assistant to Attorney General

Benjamin Civiletti Benjamin Richard Civiletti (July 17, 1935October 16, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney General during the Carter administration, from 1979 to 1981. The first Italian American to lead the U.S. Department of Jus ...

. He has been an adjunct professor of law at

Georgetown Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

and Columbia University. He is currently a partner at the firm of

Winston & Strawn LLP Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm. Headquartered in Chicago, it has nearly 800 attorneys in ten offices in the United States and six offices in Europe and Asia. Founded in 1853, it is one of the largest and oldest law firms in Chic ...

. He has appeared in the media as a legal affairs expert. Lowell was chief minority counsel to

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Democratic members during the

impeachment of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton, the List of Presidents of the United States, 42nd president of the United States, was Federal impeachment in the United States, impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on Decem ...

in the

Lewinsky scandal Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

. Lowell has defended political figures including

, former Nevada governor Jim Gibbons, former congressman

, lobbyist

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction a ...

, and U.S. senator

. Lowell was part of the defense of

Stephen Jin-Woo Kim Stephen Jin-Woo Kim is a former State Department contractor who pleaded guilty to a felony count of disclosing classified information to Fox News reporter James Rosen. Prosecutors charged that Kim's actions indirectly alerted North Korea to what U. ...

, a State Department contractor who pleaded guilty to a felony count of disclosing classified American intelligence on North Korea. As of June 2017, Lowell has represented

and

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman and the first daughter of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. She was a senior advisor in his administration, and also was the ...

in inquiries linked to Russia. Lowell represented Nickie Lum Davis, who pleaded guilty in August 2020 to illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of international fugitive

Jho Low Low Taek Jho (, born 4 November 1981), often called Jho Low, is a Malaysian fugitive businessman, wanted by authorities internationally in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB scandal). He has been named the mastermin ...

. In 2017, Lowell was also involved in discussions about Low's legal and lobbying efforts, which were designed to end the Justice Department's probe of the embezzlement of around $4.5 billion from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

Justice Department investigation

As of December 2020, the United States Department of Justice's

Public Integrity Section The Public Integrity Section (PIN) is a section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with combating political corruption at all levels of government through the prosecution of corrupt federal, state, and local elected ...

was investigating Lowell for his role in an alleged "secret lobbying scheme" and potential bribery in exchange for a

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

. Lowell was enlisted by California billionaire

Sanford Diller Sanford Ned Diller (June 4, 1928 – February 2, 2018) was an American billionaire and the founder of Prometheus Real Estate Group. Lowell's involvement came to light in an August 28, 2020 court opinion by Judge Beryl Howell that found Lowell's communications were exempt from standard attorney-client privileges "because they potentially contained both evidence of crimes and involved nonlawyer third parties." As part of the alleged bribery-for-pardon scheme, Lowell interacted with the White House Counsel's Office, and "according to documents reviewed by the all StreetJournal, Mr. Lowell and Mr. Diller discussed contacting top officials in the

rump Rump may refer to: * Rump (animal) ** Buttocks * Rump steak, slightly different cuts of meat in Britain and America * Rump kernel, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality in NetBSD Politics *Rump cabinet * Rump legislature * Ru ...

administration."

Political and civic activities

In 1982, Lowell ran unsuccessfully for the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

as a Democrat. Lowell heads the development committee and is a trustee of the Shakespeare Theatre. He also serves as vice president and general counsel of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowell, Abbe 1952 births 20th-century American Jews American lawyers Columbia Law School alumni Columbia University faculty Georgetown University Law Center faculty Living people People associated with Winston & Strawn 21st-century American Jews Columbia College (New York) alumni