Jeannie Hae Rhee (born July 25, 1972) is an American lawyer who served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General during the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

. In 2017, she was appointed by special counsel

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served a ...

to join the 2017 special counsel team to investigate Russia's intervention into the

2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

Early life and family

Rhee's parents grew up in Korea and they immigrated to the United States early on in her childhood having minimal knowledge of English language or culture. She received exceptional marks throughout high school and was named valedictorian at Gateway High School outside Pittsburgh, attended the Pennsylvania state championships for varsity debate, and was accepted early to Yale University where she was a member of the prestigious

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a Collegiate secret societies in North America, secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Collegiate secret societies in North America#Yale University, Ya ...

Secret Society. Rhee's husband, Christopher Sclafani Rhee, formerly Christopher Sclafani, served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and later on, as a partner at Arnold and Porter law firm. Jeannie and Chris are currently living in Washington D.C., with their two children.

Education

Rhee graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Rhee received her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

(JD) from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

Career

In 2000, Rhee served as an Assistant

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is responsible for representing the Federal government of the United States, federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's ...

. In 2006, Rhee joined Wilmer Hale. From 2009 to 2011, Rhee served as a deputy assistant attorney general and provided counsel to the former

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 ...

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Holder was the first African Ameri ...

. Rhee rejoined Wilmer Hale in 2011 as a partner in the Litigation/Controversy Department. Rhee specializes in

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

and data breach investigation, and she is currently aided by a score of assisting experts provided by the FBI in aiding the investigation. Upon receiving the special counsel appointment from Mueller in 2017, Rhee resigned from the WilmerHale law firm and joined Mueller's special counsel team. Previously, Rhee represented

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 ...

during the 2015 lawsuit regarding her private emails. Rhee also represented ex-Obama National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and the

Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

in a 2015 racketeering case. In 2019, Rhee joined

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. Paul, Weiss's core practice areas are in litigation and corporate law. The firm has histori ...

as a partner in their

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

litigation practice. In 2025, Rhee was targeted along with her firm by

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 ...

in his administration's retaliatory campaign against attorneys investigating or prosecuting allegations and/or conspiracies involving the president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhee, Jeannie Members of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation team 1972 births Living people American people of Korean descent Yale University alumni Yale Law School alumni Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people