Ken Wainstein | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis | |
| In office June 13, 2022 – January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | David Glawe |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Kozma |
| 4thUnited States Homeland Security Advisor | |
| In office March 30, 2008 – January 20, 2009 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Frances Townsend |
| Succeeded by | John O. Brennan |
| United States Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division | |
| In office September 28, 2006 – March 30, 2008 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Rowan |
| United States Attorney for the District of Columbia | |
| In office May 2004 – September 28, 2006 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Roscoe Howard |
| Succeeded by | Ronald Machen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kenneth Leonard Wainstein 1962 (age 62–63) |
| Education | University of Virginia (BA) University of California, Berkeley (JD) |
Kenneth Leonard Wainstein (born 1962) is an American lawyer.[1] He served as the firstassistant attorney general fornational security, and later as thehomeland security advisor toUnited StatesPresidentGeorge W. Bush. In 2022 under theBiden administration, he was appointedunder secretary of homeland security for intelligence and analysis.[2][3] He served in this position until 2025.
Wainstein earned a B.A. from theUniversity of Virginia where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earned a J.D. from theUniversity of California at Berkeley where he was the Note and Comment Editor of the California Law Review.[4]
Following law school, Wainstein served as law clerk to the Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson of the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.[1]
Wainstein worked for theFederal Bureau of Investigation, as General Counsel and as Chief of Staff to the FBI Director.[1] He was theUnited States attorney for theDistrict of Columbia.[1]
On September 26, 2006, he was sworn in as theDepartment of Justice's assistant attorney general responsible forNational Security.[5]
Wainstein was appointedhomeland security advisor by PresidentGeorge W. Bush on March 30, 2008. He was also assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism and chaired theHomeland Security Council. He was appointed as the "national continuity coordinator" under the auspices ofNational Security Presidential Directive 51.[6]
After leaving the Bush administration, Wainstein joined the law firm ofO'Melveny & Myers. In 2012, he moved toCadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he was co-chair of the firm's litigation department and chair of the white-collar group.[7] During his time at Cadwalader, Waintstein conducted an investigation which uncovered academic fraud and theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The 136-page report[8] detailed a complex, multi-year scheme to inflate the grades of student athletes.[9]
From 2017 to 2020 Wainstein was a partner at the law firm ofDavis Polk & Wardwell LLP[10] While at Davis Polk, Wainstein was reported to have represented clients includingAstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP;Chevron Corp;Comcast Corp;JP Morgan Chase Bank NA;Walmart Inc;Purdue Pharma;HSBC Holdings PLC;Facebook Inc; andGeneral Dynamics Corp.[11]
On November 5, 2021,President Joseph Biden nominated Wainstein for the position ofunder secretary of homeland security for intelligence and analysis. TheUnited States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held its open hearing on his nomination on January 12, 2022.[12] TheUnited States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held its hearing on his nomination on February 3, 2022.[13] The full Senate voted to confirm Wainstein 63–35 on June 7, 2022.[3] He was sworn in on June 13, 2022.[14]
Wainstein joinedMayer Brown in April 2025 to lead the law firm's global investigations andwhite collar practice.[15]
Wainstein also serves as a member of theBlue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a group that encourages and advocates changes to government policy to strengthen nationalbiodefense.[16]
Wainstein's mother, Eleanor Sullivan Wainstein was a defense research analyst with theRand Corporation from 1952 to 1989. For more than 30 years she specialized in U.S.-Soviet economic research.[17]
Wainstein has two siblings: Anne W. Bond and Richard Wainstein.[17]
In 2020, Wainstein, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[18] Months later, Wainstein joined with 19 other Republican-appointed former U.S. attorneys endorsingJoe Biden.[19]
Media related toKenneth L. Wainstein at Wikimedia Commons
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Attorney for the District of Columbia 2004–2006 | Succeeded by |
| New office | United States Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division 2006–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Homeland Security Advisor 2008–2009 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
d Currently styled asDeputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
