David S. Kris is an American lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

. Since 2009 he has served as the United States Assistant Attorney General

United States Assistant Attorney General

Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...

 for the National Security Division

United States Department of Justice National Security Division

The United States Department of Justice National Security Division is the division of the DOJ that handles all national security functions of the Department. Created by the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization, the Division consolidated all of the Department's national security and intelligence...

 of the United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

. He also served as the Associate Deputy Attorney General for national security issues at the Department of Justice from 2000 to 2003.

Early life and education

Kris grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

. He received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College

Haverford College

Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...

 in 1988, and his law degree from Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1991.

After completing law school, Kris clerked for United States Appeals Court Judge Stephen S. Trott

Stephen S. Trott

Stephen S. Trott is a Senior Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Trott was nominated for this position by President Ronald Reagan on August 9, 1987 after the seat held by Joseph Tyree Sneed, III became vacant...

 on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...

.

Professional career

For eight years, Kris served in the criminal division in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Kris became an Associate Deputy Attorney General for national security issues in 2000. In 2003, Kris left the Department of Justice to become a counsel, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President at Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

. He remained at Time Warner until rejoining the DOJ.

In 2009, President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 nominated Kris for Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's National Security Division, which was created in 2006.http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/obama-picks-critic-of-warrantless-wiretapping-for-slot-at-justice-dept/ The United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 confirmed Kris in a 97-0 vote on March 25, 2009.

In 2010, Kris participated in the unusually high number of prosecutions of leaks to journalists under the Espionage Act. Kris was reportedly behind the prosecution of FBI employee Shamai Leibowitz, who was sentenced to 20 months in jail for delivering classified documents including FBI wiretaps of the Israel Embassy

Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.

The Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the State of Israel to the United States. It is located at 3514 International Drive, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Cleveland Park neighborhood.The Ambassador is Michael B. Oren....

 to blogger Richard Silverstein.

In 2010, Kris joined Intellectual Ventures

Intellectual Ventures

Intellectual Ventures is a private company notable for being one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents, as of 2011. Its business model has a focus on developing a large patent portfolio and licensing these patents to companies. Publicly, it states that a major goal is to assist small inventors...

 as General Counsel.

Criticism of warrantless domestic wiretapping

Kris attracted significant public attention when he released a 23-page legal memorandum, in his personal capacity, sharply criticizing the George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 administration's legal argument that it had authority to conduct warrantless domestic wiretapping

NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

The NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States during the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...

 due to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists

The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists , one of two resolutions commonly known as "AUMF" , was a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress on September 14, 2001, authorizing the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the attacks on...

 passed by Congress on September 18, 2001. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802360.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/NSAProgramQuestions.pdf http://balkin.blogspot.com/kris.fisa.pdf Law professor Marty Lederman

Marty Lederman

Martin "Marty" S. Lederman is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel , appointed by President Obama in January 2009. He previously served as an Attorney Advisor in OLC from 1994 to 2002...

 called Kris's memo "by a large measure the most thorough and careful -- and, for those reasons, the most devastating -- critique anyone has offered of the DOJ argument that Congress statutorily authorized the NSA program." http://balkin.blogspot.com/2006/03/thorough-debunking-of-stat_114195035963469598.html He also makes shorter arguments regarding the Fourth Amendment

Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...

 implications of the warrantless domestic spying and the administration's "unitary executive theory

Unitary executive theory

The unitary executive theory is a theory of American constitutional law holding that the President controls the entire executive branch. The doctrine is based upon Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the United States in the President.Although that...

" of Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Kris wrote the memorandum in January 2006, and released it to journalists on March 8, 2006. Kris had also exchanged a series of emails with Courtney Elwood, an associate counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Alberto Gonzales

Alberto R. Gonzales was the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Attorney General in U.S. history and the highest-ranking Hispanic government official ever...

, debating the legal arguments, which were released by the Electronic Privacy Information Center

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest research group in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values in the information age...

 after obtaining them under the Freedom of Information Act. http://epic.org/privacy/nsa/oip_excerpt.pdf

Kris had been a high-ranking DOJ lawyer in the Bush administration for several years, and had appeared before Congress to advocate for the administration's positions regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the USA PATRIOT Act

USA PATRIOT Act

The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...

. http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/091002kris.html He had furthermore previously appeared before Congress in his personal capacity, after leaving the DOJ, to continue advocating for the government to have enhanced flexibility under FISA and the PATRIOT Act. http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/kris042805.pdf This background caused his strong criticism of the administration's legal claims to be considered particularly notable. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802360.html