Lawfare Podcast Episode #35: Mark Plotkin of Covington & Burling on Private Sector National Security Law
Several recent high-profile news items have shone a spotlight on the relationship between the government and private industry in national security matters, an area not frequently discussed in the media.
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Several recent high-profile news items have shone a spotlight on the relationship between the government and private industry in national security matters, an area not frequently discussed in the media. A few recent examples include Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders that technology firms like Google and Facebook turn over their users' data to the National Security Agency for intelligence collection, an investigation into the government contractor who performed Edward Snowden's background check, and the proposed acquisition by Chinese company Shuanghui International of American pork producer Smithfield Foods.
To delve deeper into the delicate and complicated processes that private sector actors are subjected to when their business comes into contact with national security concerns, I sat down with Mark Plotkin, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling. We discussed his rather unusual practice as a national security lawyer, which includes representing clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and handling matters related to data privacy, the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, and compliance.
Raffaela Wakeman is a Senior Director at In-Q-Tel. She started her career at the Brookings Institution, where she spent five years conducting research on national security, election reform, and Congress. During this time she was also the Associate Editor of Lawfare. From there, Raffaela practiced law at the U.S. Department of Defense for four years, advising her clients on privacy and surveillance law, cybersecurity, and foreign liaison relationships. She departed DoD in 2019 to join the Majority Staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw the Intelligence Community’s science and technology portfolios, cybersecurity, and surveillance activities. She left HPSCI in May 2021 to join IQT.
Raffaela received her BS and MS in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015, where she was recognized for her commitment to public service with the Joyce Chiang Memorial Award. While at the Department of Defense, she was the inaugural recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s General Counsel Award for exhibiting the highest standards of leadership, professional conduct, and integrity.
