Bruce Fein (born March 12, 1947) is an American lawyer who specializes in

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. Fein has written numerous articles on constitutional issues for ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', ''

Slate.com ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' and ''

Legal Times ALM (formerly American Lawyer Media) is a media company headquartered in the Socony–Mobil Building in Manhattan, and is a provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal, insurance, and commercial real e ...

'', and is active on

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

issues. He has worked for the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

and

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

, both conservative

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

s, as an analyst and commentator. Fein is a principal in a government affairs and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

firm, The Lichfield Group, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He is also a resident scholar at the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA).

Early life

After graduating, Fein joined the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel just when the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

was starting. His first task was drafting a 100-page memorandum on what constituted an impeachable offense. When

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

took office in 1981, Fein was appointed assistant deputy attorney general, reporting directly to the department's No. 2, Ed Schmaltz.

Personal life

Bruce Fein married Mattie Lolavar on May 15, 2004. The two were divorced in June 2013. Fein is the brother of Dan Fein, a prominent figure in the Socialist Workers Party and former candidate for

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

and

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

Relations with the US Government

Fein was a top Justice Department official under the

administration. He has criticized the Bush, Clinton, and Obama presidencies.

Reagan Administration

Under President

, Fein served as an associate deputy attorney general from 1981 to 1982 and as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

. During that period, he wrote a 30-page critique of '' Times v. Sullivan'', the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling that freed American media from much of its liability under libel law in the United States. That memorandum was briefly misattributed to Judge

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

while his nomination to be

Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...

was pending. In 1987, Fein served as the minority ( minority party) research director of the committee in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

that investigated the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...

Criticism of Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Trump administrations

The George W. Bush administration's Terrorist Surveillance Program, which intercepted some communications without a warrant from the FISA court, incensed Fein enough to propose

censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...

or even

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

of Bush. He ridiculed Harriet Miers's Supreme court nomination, and was sharply critical of then-

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

Alberto Gonzales. In March 2007, he founded the '' American Freedom Agenda'' with

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician who served as president of the National Rifle Association from 2024 to 2025. He previously served as a federal prosecutor and as a U.S. Representative, repr ...

, David Keene and Richard Viguerie. Notable published writings by Fein include articles advocating the

of former U.S. presidents

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and former U.S. Vice-President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

. On September 2, 2008, Fein addressed

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

's "

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

" in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, offering a critique of the Bush administration's interventionist policy and advocating a more non-interventionist foreign policy. Fein also harshly criticized the anti-terror policies of the Bush White House, including

wiretapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

and detention of terror suspects. In April 2009, Fein criticized President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for declining to prosecute Bush administration officials for composing

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

memos justifying torture during interrogations. In 2011, Fein proposed impeaching President

in connection with the

2011 military intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a NATO-led coalition began a military intervention into the ongoing Libyan civil war (2011), Libyan Civil War to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973). The UN Security Council passed the reso ...

.Article of Impeachment April 5 2011
During the transition following the 2016 election of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, the Supreme Court's decision in ''

Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been widely ...

'' was suggested as offering possible support for implementing his policies targeting all

Muslims in the United States Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States (1.34%) after Christianity (67%) and Judaism (2.4%). The 2020 United States Religion Census estimates that there are about 4,453,908 Muslim Americans of all ages living in the United St ...

. Fein argued that subsequent revelations that the Court was misled, changes in attitudes, and notably the Congress passing the

Civil Liberties Act of 1988 The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (, title I, August 10, 1988, , et seq.) is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been wrongly interned by the United States government during World War II and to "di ...

in which it apologized for the nation and made reparations for

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

, history has in effect overturned the ''Korematsu'' decision. While the Supreme Court has not actually overturned ''Korematsu'',

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Noah Feldman Noah Raam Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American legal scholar and academic. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the author of 10 books, host of the podcas ...

has come to the same conclusion, declaring that "''Korematsu'''s uniquely bad legal status means it's not precedent even though it hasn't been overturned." Both made arguments in line with Richard Primus' notion of " Anti-Canon" cases, those which have come to be seen as exemplars of faulty legal reasoning and / or decision making, with Feldman comparing ''Korematsu'' to '' Plessy v. Ferguson'' and Fein stating that it has "joined ''

Dred Scott Dred Scott ( – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case ...

'' as an odious and discredited artifact of popular bigotry."

Hillary Clinton

During the 2016 election Fein had been critical of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

on foreign policy, and argued on ''

'' that she was too eager for war.

Legal Cases

Lon Snowden

In the summer of 2013, Fein was hired by Lon Snowden, father of fugitive ex- NSA contractor

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...

. However, Edward Snowden subsequently made clear that Fein did not represent him, explaining that certain comments about his relationship with

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author, and former lawyer. In 1996, Greenwald founded a law firm concentrating on First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment litigation. He began blo ...

were misattributed as his own, rather than properly attributed to either Fein or Snowden's father.

NSA lawsuit

In January 2014,

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

announced he was filing a

class-action suit A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio *Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 epi ...

against the Obama Administration over the warrantless surveying the

PRISM PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

program allowed the National Security Administration to use. A controversy was stirred by the reporting that the lawsuit was drafted by Fein, but his name was replaced with

Ken Cuccinelli Kenneth Thomas "Cooch” Cuccinelli II ( ; born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Pa ...

's, the lead counsel on the lawsuit. Mattie Fein, Fein's ex-wife and spokeswoman, told a ''Washington Post'' reporter that "Ken Cuccinelli stole the suit," and that Rand Paul "already has one plagiarism issue, now has a lawyer who just takes another lawyer's work product." Paul's

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

refuted these claims by producing an email from Fein stating that his ex-wife did not speak for him and that he was paid for his work.

Discussing genocide

Sri Lankan Civil War

Fein has acted "on behalf of Tamils Against Genocide" related to espouse their cause—that is, to present parts of the Sri Lankan civil war as

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. It included attempts to bring

criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can t ...

s against some American citizens who are prominent members of the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kott ...

Armenian genocide

Fein has penned several articles on the topic, including in ''

'' and ''

''"Armenia Crime Amnesia?"
''The Washington Times'', October 16, 2007 where he states no racial, ethnic or religious motivation for the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

ever existed. According to historian Julien Zarifian, Fein is one of the "people who openly and vehemently deny the Armenian Genocide".

Court cases

His first Armenia-related action as a lawyer was to represent the Assembly of Turkish American Associations in their sentencing related intervention in the court case against Mourad Topalian, sentenced in 2001 for illegal storing of war weapons and explosives, linked to the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide. Together with David Saltzman, he represented alleged Armenian genocide denier Guenter Lewy through the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF) in an action against the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

. After filing a complaint, the TALDF obtained a public statement of retraction of statements that Lewy was a paid agent of the government of Turkey, an apology from SPLC, and monetary compensation to Prof. Lewy. Fein was also one of the attorneys for Rep.

Jean Schmidt Jeannette Mary Schmidt (née Hoffman; born November 29, 1951) is an American politician who is a state representative in Ohio's 62nd district. She was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2013. ...

, another alleged Armenian genocide denier, in action against David Krikorian and of the TCA against

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. The

House Ethics Committee The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Before the 112th Congress, it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. ...

recently found that Fein had misled Schmidt by failing to disclose to her that his fees in connection with the litigation against David Krikorian were being paid by the TCA.

Trump impeachment articles

In late 2019, with Donald Trump impeachment hearings underway, Fein appeared on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, presenting thirteen articles of impeachment. The articles include: contempt of Congress, violation of the Emoluments Clause, abuse of presidential powers and of the public trust, soliciting a foreign contribution and bribery, and suppression of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

Books

* "American Empire: Before the Fall" Published by Campaign for Liberty, June 2010. American Empire: Before the Fall, the most recent of Fein's published works, condemns what it calls "the aggressive foreign policy of the United States" for being devoid of concrete objectives, and as such, doomed to war in perpetuity. According to Fein, foreign policy as it stands is earmarked by domination for the sake of domination and gaping wounds to the rule of law and separation of powers. Fein writes: "The larger national motivation is to dominate the world for the excitement of domination. The narrower particular motivation of the President is to reduce coequal branches of government to vassalage, to place the President above the law, and to justify secret government without accountability. James Madison's admonitions about presidential wars have been vindicated."

Campaign for Liberty The Campaign for Liberty (C4L) is a political organization founded by twelve-term United States of America, United States United States Congressman, Congressman Ron Paul. Campaign for Liberty focuses on educating elected officials and the genera ...

commissioned and published American Empire: Before the Fall. This was their first foray into the realm of publishing.

(via

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

,Archived copy
, Glenn Greenwald, FDLbooksalon.com Judge Andrew Napolitano, US Representative Walter B. Jones Jr., are prominent political figures who so far have publicly declared their concurrence with Fein's analysis. * "Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy" Published by Palgrave MacMillan, September 16, 2008. Constitutional Peril was the first book authored by Fein intended for the general public. It was published while President Bush remained in office in 2008, and it made an impassioned argument in favor of impeachment for the President's unparalleled expansion of executive authority and multiple defilements of the rule of law. Fein's argument was presented on national television programs including Bill Moyers Journal.*Tough Talk on Impeachment PBS
Bill Moyers Journal. July 13, 2007 * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1978–1979 Term" Aei Pr, June 1980. * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court" AEI Press, June 1987. * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1979–1980 Term" Fred B. Rothman & Co, April 1985 * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1977–1978 Term" AEI Press, 1979. * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1975–1976 Term" Rowman & Littlefield, June 1977. * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1973–1974 Term" AEI Press, 1975. * "Significant Decisions of the Supreme Court: 1972–1973 Term" Rowman & Littlefield, June 1974.

References

External links

Statement of Bruce Fein Before The House Judiciary Committee Re: Impeachment 7/25/2007

Columns written by Bruce Fein for Slate

Tamil statehood?
By Bruce Fein on January 29, 2008, in Washington Times
Video of Fein in a debate/discussion
with Jane Hamsher on Bloggingheads.tv
Lon Snowden Praises Glenn Greenwald, ACLU After Split With Legal Team
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fein, Bruce 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American sportsmen American Enterprise Institute American foreign policy writers American legal scholars American legal writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American men's basketball players American political commentators American political writers California Golden Bears men's basketball players Deniers of the Armenian genocide Harvard Law School alumni The Heritage Foundation people HuffPost writers and columnists International law scholars Jewish American non-fiction writers Lawyers from San Francisco The New York Times journalists Reagan administration personnel The Washington Times people Writers from San Francisco 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 1943 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people)