David Steven Kris (born September 28, 1966) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

. He also served as the

Associate Deputy Attorney General Associate deputy attorney general is a position in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice. The number of positions varies widely depending on the staffing discretion of the deputy attorney general, ...

for national security issues at the

from 2000 to 2003.

Early life and education

Kris grew up in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

. He received his undergraduate degree from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

in 1988, and his J.D. degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1991. After completing law school, Kris clerked for United States Appeals Court Judge Stephen S. Trott on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

Career

For eight years, Kris served in the criminal division in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Kris became an associate deputy attorney general for national security issues in 2000. In 2003, Kris left the Department of Justice (DOJ) to become a counsel, chief ethics and compliance officer and senior vice president at

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

. He remained at Time Warner until rejoining the DOJ. In 2009, 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 ...

nominated Kris for assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's National Security Division, which was created in 2006. The

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

confirmed Kris in a 97–0 vote on March 25, 2009.

Criticism of warrantless domestic wiretapping

Kris attracted significant public attention when he released a 23-page legal memorandum, in his personal capacity, sharply criticizing the

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 ...

administration's legal argument that it had authority to conduct warrantless domestic wiretapping due to the

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF; , ) is a joint resolution of the United States Congress which became law on September 18, 2001, authorizing the use of the United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the September ...

passed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

on September 18, 2001. Law professor Marty Lederman called Kris's memo "by a large measure the most thorough and careful—and, for those reasons, the most devastating—critique anyone has offered of the DOJ argument that Congress statutorily authorized the NSA program." He also makes shorter arguments regarding the Fourth Amendment implications of the warrantless domestic spying and the administration's "

unitary executive theory In American law, the unitary executive theory is a constitutional law theory according to which the president of the United States has sole authority over the executive branch. The theory often comes up in jurisprudential disagreements about t ...

" of Article 2 of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

. Kris wrote the memorandum in January 2006, and released it to journalists on March 8, 2006. Kris had also exchanged a series of emails with Courtney Elwood, an associate counsel to

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Alberto Gonzales Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General from 2005 to 2007 and was the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government in American history until the appoin ...

, debating the legal arguments, which were released by the

Electronic Privacy Information Center The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is an independent nonprofit research center established in 1994 to protect privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age. Based in Washington, D.C., their mission i ...

after obtaining them under the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

. Kris had been a high-ranking DOJ lawyer in the Bush administration for several years, and had appeared before Congress to advocate for the administration's positions regarding the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.USA PATRIOT Act. He had furthermore previously appeared before Congress in his personal capacity, after leaving the DOJ, to continue advocating for the government to have enhanced flexibility under FISA and the PATRIOT Act.

Later career

In 2011, Kris joined

Intellectual Ventures Intellectual Ventures is an American private equity company that centers on the development and licensing of intellectual property. Intellectual Ventures is one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents, as of 2011. Its business model focuses on b ...

as general counsel.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kris, David S. 1966 births Lawyers from Brookline, Massachusetts Living people Haverford College alumni Harvard Law School alumni American lawyers United States assistant attorneys general