Joseph Edward Schmitz (born August 28, 1956) is an American lawyer, former inspector general of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

and a former executive with

Blackwater Worldwide Constellis, formerly Blackwater, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1997, by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquire ...

. After working as a watchdog at the Pentagon for three and a half years, Schmitz resigned to return to the private sector. Although allegations questioning his stewardship of the inspector general's office surfaced nine months after his resignation, a high-level review board, the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, cleared him of wrongdoing in 2006. He was named one 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 ...

's foreign policy advisors for his

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

Biography

Schmitz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of

John G. Schmitz John George Schmitz (August 12, 1930 – January 10, 2001) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and California State Senate from Orange County, California. He was also a member of the John Birch Society. In 19 ...

, former

California State Senator The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. N ...

, member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

, and U.S. presidential candidate in 1972. Schmitz attended Catholic schools as a child, and

Georgetown Preparatory School Georgetown Preparatory School (also known as Georgetown Prep) is a Jesuit college-preparatory school in Rockville, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boarding s ...

for high school, a time period in which his father also served in Congress. He holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(1978) from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, where he was on the wrestling team, and a

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 ...

(1986) from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He was one of seven children in his family. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Schmitz served in the U.S. Navy for approximately four years, including a stint as an exchange officer with the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. After leaving active duty, Schmitz went to law school, and was in the Naval Reserve until 2001. He clerked with

James L. Buckley James Lane Buckley (March 9, 1923 – August 18, 2023) was an American politician, jurist, diplomat, and author. Buckley served in the United States Senate as a member of the Conservative Party of New York State, held multiple positions within ...

, circuit judge for the D.C. Circuit Court, and was a special assistant 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 ...

Edwin Meese III Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan presidential transition team (1980� ...

during the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

. Schmitz entered the private sector in 1987, eventually joining the

Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with over 40 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C.–based Patton Boggs. It is one of the largest law firms in ...

law firm in Washington, D.C. He was also an adjunct professor of law at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in the 1990s, and founded his own firm, Joseph E. Schmitz, PLLC, in 2008. Schmitz is a member of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

. He co-authored the book '' Shariah: The Threat To America'' by the

Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.–based think tank. The founder and former president of the organization is Frank J. Gaffney Jr., who now serves as the group's executive chairman. The c ...

, of which he is a senior fellow, and has been on the Advisory Board of the American Freedom Law Center, which is run by

David Yerushalmi David Yerushalmi (born 1956) is an American lawyer and political activist who is the driving counsel behind the anti-sharia movement in the United States. Along with Robert Muise, he is co-founder and senior counsel of the American Freedom Law Ce ...

. Because of his involvement with these groups, he has been described as anti-Muslim by 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 ...

and

Hope not Hate Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...

Inspector General of the Department of Defense

On June 18, 2001, Schmitz was nominated by President

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 ...

to act as the Inspector General of the Department of Defense. His nomination was held up in the

Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...

for unknown reasons until March 21, 2002, when he was confirmed by the full Senate by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. One of his first actions as Inspector General was to hire controversial Republican operative L. Jean Lewis as his chief of staff."Pentagon Iraq War Intel 'Not Illegal': Questions About DoD Inspector General's Flawed Report"
Daily Kos
February 9, 2007 Various senior officials in the Defense Department stated that Schmitz had an enduring fascination with Baron

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben ( , ; born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis Freiherr von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a German-b ...

, having personally redesigned the Defense Department Inspector General's seal to incorporate the Von Steuben family motto.T. Christian Miller, ''The Scrutinizer Finds Himself Under Scrutiny''
''Los Angeles Times''
September 25, 2005 Schmitz's association with the German journalist, Henning Von Steuben, the leader of the Von Steuben Family Association, attracted the criticism of Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...

, who stated that Schmitz had "feted Von Steuben at an $800 meal allegedly paid for by public funds." In 2005, Schmitz canceled a planned $200,000 trip to Germany "to attend a ceremony at a Von Steuben statue," after Grassley questioned the expenditure. As Inspector General, Schmitz investigated involvement of the U.S. military in the sex trade in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Role in 2020 Presidential Election

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

reported that Schmitz sent a message to Representative

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. ...

describing the legal basis for Vice President

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

to block certification of the 2020 election. On January 5, 2021, Jordan forwarded Schmitz’ message to White House Chief of Staff

Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 under the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representat ...

."Jim Jordan sent one of the texts revealed by January 6 committee"

December 15, 2021

References

Literature

* Miller, T. Christian. (2006). ''Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq''. New York: Little, Brown and Company. See pages 68–69. * Scahill, Jeremy. (2007). ''Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army''. New York: Nation Books. See Chapter Seventeen: "Joseph Schmitz: Christian Soldier."

External links

*
US: Pentagon's Top Watchdog Resigned Amid Claims of Stonewalling Inquiries
," T. Christian Miller,

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, September 3, 2005 *
How Many More Mike Browns Are Out There?
" Mark Thompson,

Karen Tumulty Karen Emily Tumulty (born December 1, 1955) is a political columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Tumulty served in several capacities with ''Time'' magazine's Washington, D.C. bureau from October 1994 to April 2010, including as Congressional cor ...