Douglas Neal Letter is an American attorney. He was general counsel to the United States House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022.[1] [2] He is now chief legal officer for Brady: United Against Gun Violence.[2] From 1978 to 2018, he was an attorney in the United States Department of Justice, ultimately serving as director of the appellate staff for the Civil Division.[3][1][4][5][6]

Doug Letter
Born
Douglas Neal Letter

(1953-09-27) September 27, 1953 (age 71)
EducationColumbia University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)

During a 2014 hearing before a federal court in which Letter was representing the United States Government in a lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, he made headlines after providing erroneous information to judges regarding the legality of National Security Letters.[7][5][6] The Justice Department later issued a written apology to the court for Letter's statement.[5]

Letter received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1975 and his J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1978.[8]

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References

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  1. ^ a b McNamara, Audrey (December 28, 2018). "Nancy Pelosi Appoints Douglas Letter New General Counsel of the House". Daily Beast. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Cheney, Kyle (21 January 2023). "The House's legal lieutenant in its Trump wars speaks out — about Jan. 6 and more". Politico. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  3. ^ Johnson, Carrie (March 12, 2018). "40 Years Of Experience Walks Out The Door Of The Justice Department". National Public Radio. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  4. ^ Ruger, Todd (June 10, 2019). "Unassuming House counsel is a key player in Trump-Congress fights". Roll Call. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Mullin, Joe (November 13, 2014). "DOJ admits its lawyer misled appeals court during oral argument". Ars Technica. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Tuccille, J.D. (November 14, 2014). "Justice Department Lied in Court About National Security Letters". Reason. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Sledge, Matt (November 13, 2014). "Government Admits 'Misstatement' In Key Surveillance Lawsuit". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "Article One Oversight and Executive Power: A Virtual Townhall with Douglas N. Letter, 75'CC, JD UC Berkeley '78". Columbia College. Archived from the original on 2020-07-24. Retrieved July 24, 2020.