Kenneth L. Wainstein is the Sheila and Milton Fine distinguished visiting fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on counterterrorism issues. He was appointed as the nation's homeland security advisor by former president George W. Bush on March 30, 2008, and served in that position until January 20, 2009. Mr. Wainstein chaired President Bush's Homeland Security Council and reported to the president on a range of homeland security and counterterrorism matters.
From 2006 until his appointment as homeland security advisor, Mr. Wainstein served as the Justice Department's first assistant attorney general for national security and oversaw the establishment of the National Security Division, the first new division at the department in nearly fifty years. Under Mr. Wainstein's leadership, the new division contributed significantly to the effort to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978; initiated a groundbreaking and comprehensive oversight program for FBI national security investigations; launched a national export enforcement initiative targeting illegal exports of sensitive technology and weapon components; and worked jointly with the Department of Defense to bring military commission charges involving the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
From May 2004 until September 2006, Mr. Wainstein served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Prior to that, he held senior positions in the FBI and served as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorneys' offices for the Southern District of New York and the District of Columbia.
