INSCT Research and Practice Associates
Jeff Breinholt
Jeff Breinholt has been an attorney with the United States Department of Justice National Security Division since 1990. In 2008, he joined the International Assessment and Strategy Center for a one year stint as Senior Fellow and Director of National Security Law. Breinholt was the Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section at the United States Department of Justice, and head of the Department of Justice's terrorist financing enforcement program, from just before 9/11. He also served as the Director of National Security Law at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. Mr. Breinholt previously served as the Regional Antiterrorism Coordinator for the western and Pacific states and as a trial attorney in the Counterterrorism Section's international terrorism branch. He joined the Justice Department with the Tax Division in 1990, and spent six years as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Utah before joining the Counterterrorism Section in 1997. In 2003, he was honored with the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security, for his work in crafting creative legal theories that resulted in the initiation of several important prosecutions in the aftermath of 9/11.
He is a frequent lecturer on law enforcement and intelligence topics. He is the author of two books, Counterterrorism Enforcement: A Lawyer’s Guide (DOJ Office of Legal Education 2004), and Taxing Terrorism, From Al Capone to Al Qaida: Fighting Violence Through Financial Regulation (forthcoming 2006). His other recent publications include “How About a Little Perspective? The USA PATRIOT Act and the Uses and Abuses of History,” 9 Texas Review of Law & Politics 226 (Fall 2004) and “Seeking Synchronicity: Thoughts on the Role of Domestic Law Enforcement in Counterterrorism,” 21 American University International Law Review (forthcoming December 2005).
He is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1985) and the UCLA School of Law (J.D., 1988).